


The Lens

by astronaut09



Category: K-pop, Original Work, SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Alternate Universe, F/F, F/M, Fantasy, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, Manga & Anime, My First Fanfic, Post-War, Rating: PG13, S L O W B U R N, Slice of Life, Swearing, also im kpop trash, im anime trash too, lol such cringe, not quite angst, so far nothing god would disapprove of, starts off super slow, tagged as kpop cuz they're trainee idols
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2018-04-05
Packaged: 2019-02-17 15:08:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 32,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13079529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astronaut09/pseuds/astronaut09
Summary: Woojin is just t i r e d. The aspiring idol doesn't know how to trust others or form meaningful relationships because of reasons. On top of that he is trying to pursue his dreams of one day standing on a global stage and influencing the world with his music during a time of post-war uncertainty. Yikes. Oh also he has a 6'1ft tall problem called Minghan who wont leave him alone.Things get rolling when one day Woojin finds a mysterious camera lens that allows him to see some crazy shit.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So. I finally crossed that line... This is my first fic. I have no shame anymore. Please be gentle with me lol.
> 
> Also, for disclaimer sake y'all need to know, I wrote this with the SEVENTEEN members in mind but the characters are only lightly based off of them which is why I changed their names. They're MY OCs so they wont be like the SEVENTEEN members (but still, it's pretty obvious who was based off of who lolololol even their names are similar). Idk whether I should tag this with the actual SEVENTEEN names though... thoughts?
> 
> Anyways I hope you enjoy and I'd love to hear your thoughts and constructive criticism.  
> Also sorry about shitty grammar. First chapt is mostly just setting the scene.  
> Enjoy ಥ‿ಥ

The lens

Chapter 1

 

He just didn't get it. Woojin really couldn't understand other people. Yes, that was a bold, sweeping statement but don’t misunderstand, it wasn’t something he claimed without solid evidence nor was it something he was proud of. In fact it was the very opposite, he hated this annoying part of him.

From a young age the boy had noticed that sometimes the expressions people made didn’t match with the words that came out of their mouths. Naturally this made him extremely uncomfortable. Usually when someone was happy they smiled, or, if someone was sad they cried but over time woojin witnessed this defining line in the sand become more and more blurred.

Seeing his mother smile while his reflection stared back at him in her tearing eyes bothered him. Watching his classmates talk to each other like a game of Chinese whispers bothered him. They all lied to each others faces, absolutely and shamelessly. Soon he realised everything around him was a facade. That in itself was troubling but what bothered him the most was how he could no longer differentiate between genuine or fake any more. He didn’t know how.

Currently at the tender age of 18, Woojin had no problem admitting he had honed some first rate trust issues (amongst other unfortunate traits). After taking a closer look, he found that for him the issues arose when there was a disconnect between what a person was saying and what they were really feeling.

From Woojins perspective a person didn’t have any obligation to tell him what they were really thinking. He never ruled out the possibility that despite whatever someone said or did they could be lying. He couldn’t find that trust most people had in one another to believe that a person would honestly convey their true feelings.

Obviously it was impossible to know for sure whether someone was lying or not. Truth or lie, real or fake, there were too many possibilities. Too much which could be lost in translation. Trying to overcome this barrier was tiresome and he was always left clueless.

 

A perfect example of this was when a girl in his 5th grade class invited herself to study with him. It was highly unusual as both students were quiet and unsociable. Both also happened to be reasonably smart so didn’t really need to study for such a minor weekly assessment, but she had invited herself either way.

He had hesitantly agreed and during lunch that day they sat together in the striking heat of the midday sun to work. Neither of them spoke under the shade of the picnic shelter.

He remembered her short black hair fall over her eyes while she wrote and the rough scratching of her pen against paper. Her silhouette was shrouded against the saturated blue sky. Sitting with someone else during lunch for the first time felt strange.

The next day, after the test was over, their short baby-faced teacher asked each student to hand in their answer sheets to the front of the classroom. It was silent save the gentle ticking of the wall clock. The sheets were passed down from student to student until they reached Woojin. The black haired girl, who sat behind him, handed him the pile. Her sheet rested on top. She smiled up at him sweetly with blushing cheeks. Looking down at the pile of papers, a drop of sweat fell from his chin. Identical answers to his written in her perfect handwriting, stared back up at him.

_Oh,_ _she used me._

Thinking back now, he couldn’t remember what the test had even been about nor the girls name but he did clearly remember what happened next. It was cruel what he had done. In reality, probably all she had wanted was an excuse to spend lunch with someone, anyone. Like him, she had always been alone. This time she had finally reach out a friendly hand but what had he done in return? He had slammed the door in her face in front of the whole class. He had embarrassed and hurt her. It was something he regretted everyday.

He pointed a prosecuting finger at her,

“You cheated.”

 

He never let himself forget that time. Her tear stained cheeks played and replayed in his mind. They looked like flooding rivers spilling over cracked earth. He hadn’t dared look up at her eyes. Even now he didn’t want to think about what kind of expression she had made that day. It reminded him of who he was, someone who was trapped in a pitiable loop of misunderstandings and mistrust. It revealed to him his own malice.

After being accused of cheating, the girl was given after school punishment and her parents were informed. She didn’t go to school the next day, nor the day after that. When she finally returned her hair had been shaved like a boys and she never spoke to Woojin again.

That incident had shaken the him to the core. He had never realised the impact his accusations could have had. Looking back now it was sad how he truly believed she had used him. After the incident Woojins mother sighed, held him in her arms and explained his mistake.

The young boy understood himself a little better after that. He realised that even though he could not trust others he didn’t have to act on it. Even if it meant living with a lifetime of internalised doubt, he didn’t want to hurt others like that again.

Like this Woojin had managed to survive living in society. In fact over the years the boy had managed to manoeuvre himself throughout high school with very few setbacks. Despite not making many friends along the way, he was now quietly getting through his first year of university.

 

Something which had been Woojins lifeline and allowed him to cope was music. Through music it was easy to understand a persons heart. You couldn’t lie or hide when expressing yourself through a performance. Be it singing or playing an instrument, the sound reflected the soul, at least that’s what Woojin had come to believe. Being part of music clubs and playing after school, he had been able to express himself and also connect with others in a way he couldn’t before. He had so much he wanted to convey. He was the most happiest when he performed.

This was the most logical reason he could come up with to explain why he was pursuing music as a career, he wanted to share this understanding with others. Woojin was a student at Seo Shin University of the Performing Arts (SOPA). While he was there studying music he, along with some course mates, had been scouted by a small music label not too long ago. This meant that while still being in full time education he was now also part of the record company, Neo Wave entertainment.

Being part of the company was similar to an apprenticeship. They trained him in fields such as composing, writing, vocal control and dance while also giving him room and board. All he had to do was give them a percentage of his earnings from performing under their label. It was a fair enough deal considering he wasn’t that concerned about money. He had the creative freedom he needed.

The company had picked him along with 6 other members to form a band and eventually debut as international stars. That was the master plan but for now they were still just small town kids, working hard to someday become world class musicians.

 

Minghan was another one of these kids. At this very moment the tall, tanned boy was stood centre stage bathed in dense yellow light. All Woojin could see was his broad muscular back through his thin, sweat soaked t-shirt. From the shadows of the stage Woojin sighed internally as he slouched among the other band members.

The boys were at yet another small grimy underground venue, showcasing their new album. In the tightly pack crowd, among the usual club goers, were mainly potential sponsors and media journalists. Their manager, Four-eyes, had done a good job of inviting the lot.

Eyes glazed over, Woojin let his mind wander while the other rapped. Minghans voice was deep and just the slightest bit coarse. It complemented the strumming of his guitar perfectly. Listening to the song they had written together, there was only one concern that took over Woojins short attention span and that was his infamous relationship with Minghan.

Woojin had recently discovered that, for some reason or other, he and his band mate were quite a famous pair around campus and the office. Why? The reason was as much a mystery to him as it was to Minghan but not to the others it seemed. The word “Chemistry” was thrown around a lot whenever a reason was given. Whether it was by their course mates or by their record label, even their own band mates, the boys were perpetually paired together as if it was the most amusing thing in the world.

Obviously this issue wasn't really an issue at all. At most it was a little annoying and sure, distracting too, but nothing detrimental. Woojin definitely had more important things to worry about, like his unfinished assignments or the weekly performance evaluations the company made all trainees do. The only reason why his brain decided to focus on it now was because a) he had nothing better to do, and b) the showcase was quickly coming to an end meaning the Q&A section was about to start.

Woojin hated this part the most. Unable to handle the onslaught of questions by reporters and magazine journalists, he resorted to distracting himself at the end of every showcase. He let his mind overthink this particular minor inconvenience for his own convenience. It was a good choice since it was after all, a subject he could never comprehend, a matter of the heart.

 

“We're so grateful. This would have been impossible without your support."

He was suddenly dragged back to reality when he heard his band member speak. They were pretty words but Seunghyun, their bands leader, would have never thought of using them before he was told by Four-eyes to do so. The boys, stood in a row, were met with a shower of camera clicks which was louder than any applause they had ever received before.

One faceless journalist spoke from behind thick framed glasses gleaming from the stage lights. Woojin couldn't see a single feature of his face as if they had been wiped clean off. The only thing he could see were the black rimmed glasses. The faceless man directed his question to Minghan.

The question was of Woojin himself. They all watched with intensity, waiting to see how the boy would answer, even the events main host, the CEO of their company. Her beady slits eyed them closely from the far end of the room like a deadly snake. But Minghan took it all in his stride. With a smug smile he answered smoothly, eyes fixed on Woojin,

"Our relationship? What kind of question is that?” He chuckled arousing a light laughter from the audience, “I guess... we’re rivals?" The boy shook his head in awkward embarrassment, "I don’t know. What kind of question _is_ that? As a musician, Woojin is the only guy I’ll accept as my rival right now, I don’t know anyone else who can reach our level. Oh yeah, and I guess we’re friends too. We work well together. This guy often shows me a different point of view when we’re producing. So, probably... he's someone who’s useful to me!" he laughed weakly at his own cheesiness, earning an influx of clicks.

The tension had vanished into thin air, cloaked under smoke and mirrors. It was obvious from the reporters response, if there was one thing Minghan was good at it was understanding the crowd. He could tease them mercilessly before he finally gave them what they wanted to hear and somehow he was always able to give them what they wanted to hear.

That being said, it was still fake. Just more pretty words to please the listener. Not the part about them being friends, that much was true, but the rest of it. Rivals? Sure they could be competitive but calling it a full blown rivalry was just over dramatic. The reality was they were good at what they did and worked well together. That was it. They weren’t some fantasy dream team that everyone made them out to be. Surely no one would believe his boastful hot air.

From the sea of faceless men, one raised its hand,

"Mr Woojin, you haven't said a word this whole time. Even though we listened to your bands album for the first time, you don’t seem nervous about the feed back. Are you that confident about it despite its controversial themes?”

Another reporter chimed in from the other side of the room,

“Can you tell us your own honest thoughts about the album? Not your company's, but yours?"

Then another,

“Who’s idea was it to use such a controversial topic? Or was it a joint decision?”

“Why should I invest in such a reckless group of boys?”

“Is it true you kids only chose such a topic to gain attention? You knew it would have a big impact didn’t you?”

“How much do you actually believe in what you wrote?”

A rapid drumming began to bombard Woojins ears. Behind them thrashed copper symbols which sounded like the rush of violent typhoon waves. The trembling beat spiked over and over again. He could feel beads of sweat well up over his top lip. With fists clenched he opened his mouth to take a deep breath in.

It had been like this the entire time, they asked loaded questions which were impossible to answer succinctly and then picked at your raw bleeding answers like ruthless vultures. At least that's what it felt like. What was the point of him answering when they all knew it would never satisfy them?

The other members glanced over at him. They were still waiting.

"I'm proud." was all he had managed to say staring intensely towards the back wall, overlooking the crowd. Then he choked into silence again. A few clicks cut through the electrically charged air. He unclenched his sweaty palms and continued.

"I'm proud that we... We created something with a strong meaningful message that we all- that I- firmly believe in. It is something that even if I hadn't contributed to, I would still fully believe in with my whole heart."

Again clicking of cameras. Woojin finally let out his breath. As he timidly glanced around the room, he thought maybe, just maybe, he saw a satisfied nod in the back. Maybe their CEO wasn't so impossible to please after all. The illusive woman seemed to have set off a wave of approving enthusiasm from her surrounding staff. A feeling of relief settled through him.

Then a reporter leapt in with the ultimate question it had been wanted to ask all along,

"Because the theme of this album is just _that_ controversial don’t you think you will face a lot of negative backlash? Earlier in you're own leaders words, Mr Seunghyun confirmed that it was a big risk for you to have an anti-nuke theme. Some could see this to be propagating a political agenda against our core values. Don’t you think you’re defying the very principles this country was founded on?"

"No."

This time it was Jiyoon who answered. The small boy took a step forwards as light washed over him. In a clear steady voice he spoke,

"As the main producer of this album I made it very clear what the album was about. It is about the struggles our generation has to face. Thanks to the history of our country, anti nuclear weapon and anti war happens to be a major part of that. Being Nuke babies gives us the responsibility to reflect on our society's actions. We're not against our country’s principles. Korrica may have been built on the back of nuclear wars but that doesn't mean we should endorse nukes."

 

Woojin tried hard to tune out the flashing camera lights as he stood on the brightly lit, dirty stage. There was no applause, only an uproar of questions swept the room. Fanning a multitude of bows towards the crowd, they finally wrapped up the Q&A and walked off.

Woojin felt nothing but relief as he glanced out at the sea of retreating bodies. Obviously, he very much appreciated the support of these rich-ass sponsor's but this 6 hour event had dragged on for too long. Having slept only a few hours the night before meant he was tired. Right now he wasn't idol Woojin, right now he was just a pale skinny kid with dark hair and even darker eye bags.

What Jiyoon had referred to earlier was the history of their home, Korrica. After long crushing world wars the small country’s economy was able to survive thanks to selling nuclear weapons. Since Korrica was a small island, all its efforts were directed towards their Navy and Arms trade. Korrica nukes were now a household name in the global military arms market. In fact Woojins own uncle worked at a nukes production plant.

Times had changed from the age of rifles and tanks. Now all unsolvable conflicts were settled with nuclear war. The world wasn’t what it had been. Despite all the high-rise buildings and neon lights, according to his mother, it was a darker age now.

 

Suddenly Woojin felt an arm snake its way around his waist and rest on the small of his back. Turning his head he looked for the source. Of course it was Minghan. Who else. Startled but not surprised the boy just let it happen and casually returned his attention to the dwindling crowd following them out the building. His face cemented into a porcelain smile. A brief wave of excitement arose among the remaining audience because of the gesture. Again he wasn't surprised. As Minghan briskly walked beside him, an arm around his waist, the two waved at the cameras. More flashing lights, more shutter snapping clicks and finally it was over.

 

The members quickly piled into the black minivan and headed back to their dorms. Woojin was sat in the back row, to his left was Chris, their beige haired bandmate, and to his right, the door window. He liked the window seat the best, it provided a sense of privacy and made a great headrest. Slowly, like the other members, he closed his eyes to the outside world and leaned his head back to sleep.

It would be a long journey home since traffic was always a problem. Recently, it seemed, there wasn’t a single road which wasn’t under reconstruction. Half of them were closed off to begin with and the other half were still under maintenance.

For some reason Woojin began to feel uneasy. The unnerving weight of someone's gaze hung over him. Daring to crack his heavy eyelids open he saw Minghan watching him from the seat opposite his. _This_ _guy_ _again_ , he thought. Without moving even an inch he mumbled in a low drowsy voice, a quick,

"Why? What is it?"

It was barely audible over the sound of the rumbling engine. Minghan just continued to watch with laid back focus. A mischievous smirk graced his face revealing sharp k-nines. Its playful charm broke down Woojins guard and proved to him that smiling was contagious. He let a small smile escape, all be it passively.

Minghan was a good 4-5 centimetres taller than Woojin. The 6’1ft boy was also more muscular, very tanned and surprisingly reliable. He was a man of many talents who was effortlessly good at most things. He was however a little clumsy but with a handsome face like that no one really cared.

Said boy was now shifting his eyes around the car checking on the other members. Confirming no one else was awake he silently mouthed words to Woojin. Woojin blinked a few times before focusing on his moving lips. He was too tired to lip-read and honestly just wanted to nap but curiosity got the better of him.

"Lea-der is snor-ing" he deciphered. Minghan then jerked his head in the direction of their band leader. Although he didn't bother to look, Woojin grinned as he heard what sounded like a distant lawn mower.

"Go to sleep." He finally replied in an amused croaky murmur.

Minghan gazed at him again, lips still curled up into a smug smile. Dark brown eyes transfixed on Woojin,

"You did good today, Woojin."

 

There was no doubt about it, Minghan bothered him the most. This guy bothered him the most. He was pretty sure he had managed to maintain a very normal relationship with all his bandmates, normal as far as their lifestyle was concerned anyway, so why had this turned into something so troublesome?

Yes, their relationship was close. Like Woojin, Minghan had been lucky enough to be scouted from the university at the beginning of their first year. This meant the two were bandmates and classmates. It was their duty to support each other during long hours of dance practice or vocal training. Whatever they did they had to show camaraderie and they relied on one another constantly.

Not only that, the two were also room mates. First in uni halls then at the company's dorms for trainees. The first time, it had been a coincidence but the second wasn't. They knew each other from before so it made sense to room together again.

Living in the dorms with the other members obviously knocked down some personal boundaries. Sometimes frustrations could run high and fall outs weren't unheard of but they easily overcame any quarrels. Birthdays and accomplishments were always celebrated together like a real family. Woojin couldn't deny things were very comfortable between the two and how couldn't it have been considering the situation. It was a common dynamic among band mates.

However the amount of attention it attracted scared him. It made a worrying thought cross Woojins mind, _Was their relationship really "normal"?_

 


	2. Chapt 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same day uploading because that's just how i do! B)
> 
> I wont lie this chapter is still kinda slow but at least shit starts to happen!  
> I'm easing into it guys so please bear with me.  
> Also i know, i know, it's basically all dialogue. My high school English teacher would smack me if she could.  
> tbh I'd smack me if i could...  
> Anyways I hope you enjoy!  
> Feedback is always welcome!  
> ಥ‿ಥ

Chapt 2

 

What could he do? Woojin was only an average teenager in the end. It seemed that only small insignificant worries plagued his mind. After a long busy day of promoting, the boys filed back to the dorms like zombies. Crashing on his bed Woojin wanted to stop thinking about that days events, their showcase in particular. It had gone fairy well but he couldn’t get that dizzy choking feeling he had experienced when trying to answer the reporters out of his head.

"I’m using the shower first." a booming voice probably belonging to Chris yelled to no one in particular.

Chris, their half foreign rapper and bassist, was a passionate musician and considered attractive by many of their friends. He scratched his sandy beige hair as he waltzed past, towel hung around his neck.

It was unfortunate the dorms they lived in only had two tiny bathrooms which all 8 of the male trainees shared. This consisted of the 6 band members and two producers. Although a rota had been put in place it was long forgotten as over the years an unspoken law of order had formed. It was well known that Chris and Woojin preferred to shower first while Seunghyun, their trusty leader, didn't mind going last.

Once changed and settled down, the members were unwinding in their rooms. Woojin lay on his stomach atop the top bunk, lazily flicking through a comic. His damp black hair grazed the back of his neck uncomfortably. Bellow him, also laying on his front, was the freshly showered Seunghyun playing on his mobile phone. Muscular drummer arms held his upper body up. They were covered in scars and scratches, probably from his B-boying sessions.

The designated leader of the group was an intimidating but reliable guy, sporting a shaved undercut and piercings in both ears. His black wavy hair fell over sharp, narrow eyes. He was the eldest and in charge of drums and keeping the others in check.

The guy looked very much engrossed in his screen. Across the room Minghan stood up from his bed which was nothing more than a blue cushioned couch.

"Let's go out!" He boldly stated. The other two looked at him.

"Why?"

"But it's late."

They shot him down on the spot.

"Come on, don’t be like this.” He moaned, “It's our last night of promotion and classes don’t start until next week! We're officially on vacation. Shouldn't we go celebrate?"

Seunghyun glanced back down at his buzzing phone and replied curtly,

"The managers are taking us to celebrate tomorrow."

To which Minghan offered an empty smile and hollow sigh. It seemed he was disappointed in his fellow band mates lack of enthusiasm.

"Come on. Let's just go the three of us, or I can call the others and we can get BBQ. Let's go!" He insisted.

"Nah, sorry, but I don't want to," their leader replied not looking up from his phone.

"Who’re you messaging so much, huh?" Minghan narrowed his eyes. There was frustration and mischief in his booming voice.

"N-no one. It's just Jiyoon."

"Oh really? But he's only in the next room, why are you texting him?" He smirked down at the others flustered face. Despite being cocky about it he was right, Jiyoon, their producer was just across the hallway.

"Shut up and leave. Just go already." Their elder barked at him irritatedly.

Minghan knew that was his signal to give up. He now shifted his attention to Woojin. Woojin, watching from above, mentally frowned. _Fuck_ , he thought. The boy was looking up at him with keen eyes. He persistently wiggled his eyebrows and repeated,

"Come on."

He looked like a dog begging to go for a walk. Woojin checked his phone for the time and decided that he'd allow it.

 

The two walked down the street at a steady pace. It was dusk and streaks of glowing orange clouds painted the darkening sky. After showering sleep had left Woojins body and now he felt cool and refreshed. Being summer, they stumbled down the street in t-shirts, loose jogging bottoms and flip-flops. With no one else around during this time it was peaceful.

"Let's go to Mama's little kitchen." Minghan said.

The yellow street lights bathed his tanned face in light.

"Agh, again?" Woo retorted.

"Why? What's wrong with Little kitchen? I thought you liked Little kitchen." He said looking offended. Woojin thought for a while,

"hm..."

"Then you decide, where do you wanna go?"

Woojin again animatedly thought to himself before finally saying,

"How about Little kitchen?"

Minghan rolled is head up to the skies, suppressing an infuriated groan. Exasperated at the others purposely difficult behaviour he scowled,

"Why are you like this, huh?" Playfully, he loomed over Woojins face as if picking a fight.

Woo couldn't help but let out a snort. His nose scrunched up in amusement. He kept Minghan at bay by pushing him away and made a run for it down the sloped road.

 

There were no cars around so the two were free to wander along the middle of the streets till they reached the restaurant. It was a small, unknown place perfect for quick meals. The food was cheap, delicious and comforting and the atmosphere was homely. The boys sat upstairs by a front facing window where the hot humid air could escape. They lounged comfortably on mismatched, worn out futons as they waited for their food.

"It's finally over!" Woojin huffed out a sigh of relief, “Today’s finally over!”

Minghan was sat facing him from across the low wooden table, leaning his shoulder against the window frame. They both look out and watched the narrow street below. A cyclist zipped by.

"It went too quickly." Minghan moaned, outstretching long arms over his head. Having finished promoting their album meant they were completely done with the live performances and radio appearances. Now they would be given some time to rest before beginning work on their next album. However, thanks to uni restarting, in no less than a week sleepless nights would soon begin again.

“I just want to stand on the stage forever and forget about work. I haven’t even looked at the composition analysis essay yet.”

Woojin did nothing but shoot him an irritable look.

"Don’t talk about work on our first day off, we’ll deal with that when the time comes. Right now I just want to forget about everything." he stated.

Minghan suddenly replied, bluntly,

"You know it was a good thing you choked."

Woojin snapped his head up, giving him a confused frown.

"Earlier, when the reporters asked those questions you were so quiet and nervous, it made you seem more genuine."

As irritated as Woojin was, he couldn't argue with that. The response he had gotten from his answer had been good. Minghan knew what he was talking about and when he explained it in that way it gave Woojin peace of mind. He hadn't messed up, his response _had_ been good enough.

“What are you talking about?” he jeered, “Of course I was genuine, I’m always genuine.”

He didn’t really believe that but he felt like teasing Minghan for amusement sake.

Chin and mouth resting in his palm, the other boy continued to gaze out the window. He lazily replied,

“I know, that’s what I like about you.”

Woojin was caught off guard. He twisted his flushed face into an unimpressed frown,

“S-stop that. Save it for the cameras.”

"But it was a little hard, seeing you like that today." Minghan continued. With his heavy head propped up on one arm, he suddenly sounded a million miles away.

"You made us worry."

 

Finally the food came. Two bowls of steaming noodles were placed in front of them. They had abandoned the idea of expensive BBQ as soon as they had walked out the door and checked their empty wallets. Woojin sat and watched the other blow on his soup. Beads of sweat had broken out into a run on Minghans flushed face. The puffs of steam vanished into the air around him, giving his tanned skin a soft sheen. Without thinking Woojin picked up a piece of meat from his own bowl, a delicate slice of pork, and put it in the others. Minghan looked up at him with a puzzled glare.

"You don't want it?"

"It's okay. I'm not hungry."

This wasn't exactly a lie but honestly he didn't know the actual reason for giving Minghan his food. His arm had moved on its own. Maybe he was possessed. Or maybe he felt guilty for putting his friend in an awkward position. If there was one thing Woojin wouldn’t forgive himself for, it was being a hindrance to his band mates. Yeah, it must have been one of those reasons.

 

"Hey, do you think Leader is secretly dating?"

Woojin choked on his soup.

"W-what?" He swallowed painfully looking up at the other.

"It's obvious isn't it?" Minghan stared down at his phone. His monotonous tone sounded as if he was asking how the other _couldn't_ have noticed, "That guy’s always texting someone."

"Jiyoon. That someone is Jiyoon. I can see his screen from my bed. It's always just Jiyoon." Woojin brushed the matter off, waving his hand like he was shooing away a fly.

The small but mighty Jiyoon was their course mate, producer and basically a child protégé. Despite looking like a school kid the baby faced boy could play 7 instruments, sing, write, and compose like a pro. He was a 4 hit combo with a razor sharp brain and attitude.

"But why does he have to message Jiyoon so often? I bet he's just using Yoon's contact name as a cover up for his real girlfriend."

Woojin began to laugh dismissively,

"Are you crazy? Why would he go so far to hide it from us? He's over 20 now so it's not against the company's contract to date or anything. Just leave it, no one hardly knows anything about that guy anyway."

Finally Minghan gave in,

"I guess... Besides he's not smart enough to think of something like that."

Woojin snorted in amusement.

 

A yawn crept up over him. He had finished his meal a while ago and was leaning into the hard embrace of the wall. The warm food was resting well in his full stomach and drowsiness was beginning to take hold. He wasn't really paying attention to Minghan as the boy continued to talk. Instead he let his focus wonder out the window. Outside the sun had almost set and a rich pinkish red draped over the streets.

Suddenly a flash of light caught his eye. He blinked. It flashed again. Something was glimmering across the narrow road, under a street light.

"Hey you're not listening are you?"

Minghan dead panned. He leaned over the table and followed Woojins gaze outside.

"What are you looking at?"

"There's something down there." His voice trailed off as he stood up abruptly and hastily scrambled away.

Woojin sped down the slippery wooden stairs and passed the small counter by the front door. He threw some notes down before rushing outside. The warm air hit him. He could hear Minghan bustling down the stairs after him but he didn't give him the time of day, he was already striding briskly across the white painted tarmac to the pavement opposite the restaurant.

Approaching the blinking street light, Woojin now saw the gleaming object more clearly. It was a small glass lens. He picked it up. Suddenly a gust of wind slammed through him. Leaves thrashed above. Looking up, he saw the birds perched on thick black telephone wires take off in a flurry, into the darkening sky.

Wide eyed, he clutched the glass lens as he thought he saw the clouds suddenly shatter. Each of their tiny particles violently convulsing, as if resonating at an insane frequency. They ripped apart from the silk like, woven fibres holding them together. Blink. The sky was completely normal again.

A hand grabbed his shoulder. Woojin was dragged back to his senses.

"What the hell! Why did you run off like that?" Minghan shouted, gripping his upper arm. He was red faced and out of breath.

"Sorry."

"What's that? Don't just pick stuff off the street." He leaned over Woojins shoulder. Too close for comfort, the heat he radiated was stifling.

"I saw it flashing from the restaurant window. It's just a lens though." the boy said slowly as he glanced back up at the sky. It definitely seemed normal. No jarring glitches, just rosy cotton clouds. With a quick shake of his head he slipped the round piece of glass into his pocket.

"You gonna use it?"

"It can't hurt to try it out. It looks like the right size." With that the two turned and decided to head home.

 

On the way back Minghan interrupted the serene silence.

"You weren't listening to what I asked you earlier, were you?" He sighed heavily.

"You were talking earlier?" Woojin asked feigning cluelessness. It got him a dirty glare and another exasperated sigh.

"Earlier I asked you what you thought of leader dating?"

"Oh this again. Why are you so interested in that all of a sudden?" Woojin asked lightheartedly, once again not giving it any thought.

"Well," Minghan glanced over at him before fidgeting with the phone in his pocket, "I was thinking of... you know, starting... T-to start dating."

There was a long pause. The other didn't reply. It had taken him a few steps to realise what he had just heard. Woojin stopped in his tracks. For some reason he couldn't understand what the other was saying. Minghan, realising Woojin wasn't walking beside him any more, turned to look back. His ears were glowing red under his black hair as he spoke apprehensively into the dimming air,

"Woojin?"

The boy in question quickly got it together,

"Y-you were thinking of 'starting to start dating'?" he let out a short nervous laugh, "Minghan, is there some one you like?"

Finally he was focused on the boys words. He watched carefully as the other let out a tired sigh, as if he had thrown all care to the wind, and smirked,

"Yep."

 

Woojin had bought his camera from one of their company’s directors. Since it was an older model she didn't use it any more so had sold it to him for a reasonable price which he had slowly paid off over the course of a month.

It was small, light, made for easy transportation, with a long strap attached. The perfect journalists camera. Woojin treasured it a lot. Although he was no journalist and rarely found time to use it, he loved it for the simple reason, it recorded all his treasured memories.

Red faced and out of breath, Minghan pulled a funny face as Woojin recorded him.

"So, is it working?" He asked, head tilted back as he slouched back on his arms. The two were sat at the back of the dance studio taking a short break from dance practice. Minghan wiped the sweat off his chin with the collar of his baggy t-shirt and stared into the lens. Woojin zoomed in and out of focus.

"Yup, looks good." He had managed to attach the lens he had found last night onto it. “The colour saturation and exposure seems normal. The lens didn't really change anything.”

“Huh? Then what was the point of adding it?"

The screen zoomed in on the boys unimpressed face. Woojin grinned,

"I'll keep recording and compare it to footage without the lens later. For now, just go up there. Go! Move!" He kicked Minghan back up towards the dance floor.

 

Sat on the hard laminated floor with his back against the mirrored wall, Woojin broke down laughing as he recorded Minghan attempting to dive into a complex dance routine. The boy was stood behind Hiro, their choreographer, messily copying his moves. As the fast paced beat reverberated through out the room, the clueless boy stuttered and stalled over his own two feet. His huge lanky body stuck out like a sore thumb.

Minghans focused face was carved in stone but his clumsy body betrayed his cool persona. Goofily dancing off beat he resorted to making up his own unique movements. Woojins grin stretched from ear to ear as he watched. He held onto his sides, lurching forwards between skinny out stretched legs in a fit of laughter. Tears welled in his eyes.

Minghan shot him a look before he began to breakdown himself. Even Hiro, who was dancing like his life depended on it, glanced over at the struggling boy in the mirror and let out an explosive snort. His body suddenly letting out shaky breaths of laughter as he moved to the beat. Drops of sweat flew from his nose. His silver hair plastered across his tanned face as he span. A huge boxy grin took over his face. Step by step he sliced through the air like falling leaves. His drenched baggy t-shirt flew behind him after every move.

Behind him, the shorter, loud-mouthed vocalist, Younghee also began to break out into laughter. His high pitched cries grew louder as he lost his composure. The whole room slowly collapsed into carefree chaos. Each of the boys gleeful gasps of breath filled the studio. Heat emitted off their flushed faces.

Woojin recorded them as they stumbled around mimicking Minghan, clapping like overjoyed children. The three looked ridiculous.

 

At that moment the door smashed open. Star Boy, their producer, waltzed in. It was rare to see the boy outside of his recording studio. With a squeak of his worn out trainers he sat down beside Woojin.

"What are you guys doing?" Cross legged, he leisurely leaned back on pale skinny arms. Yellow tinted aviators popped out from under his red bucket hat.

Woojin swung the camera towards him. Without missing a beat, he instantly threw up a “peace” sign with his long spindly fingers.

“Take a photo of me instead.” He flashed a toothy grin.

At that point there was a scuffle of trainers against the laminated floor boards. The others clambered over each other to get into shot.

Woojin held the camera up to his eye,

“Say Neo Wave!”

Click. He snapped the image.

Before he could even look at it Star boys head, and his stupid red hat, had taken over the screen. The eccentric producer laughed.

"Look at everyone’s faces! Bad timing guys." His eyes disappeared into little crescent slits as he shook his merry head.

In the photo Minghan and the others were blurred, mid-pounce, leaping into frame from the dance floor. Unimpressed, the three all huffed out a line of disappointment and dispersed.

 

Suddenly Star boy snatched the camera right out of Woojins grasp.

"Wait, look!" He exclaimed, intensely, “something’s weird with this lens.”

Placing it before them Star boy pointed to the image. They stared down in fierce anticipation. What did he notice, what was he about to point out?

"Here, the image is..." he paused for effect. Woojin glanced up at him then back to the photo, "…It’s all yellow."

Minghan whacked him over the head,

“Idiot, take your glasses off.”

Woojin let out a disappointed sigh. Instead of finding an actual difference the air-head went and said something dumb like that. He glanced back down at the camera. While the others began childishly bickering in the background, something caught his eye.

"What’s that?" Woojin murmured under his breath, zooming into the image,

"Y-Yellow... clouds?" he squinted.

Woojin shook his head,

"There's definitely something wrong with this lens."

He abruptly stood up and left.

 


	3. Chapt 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly, MERRY CHRISTMAS!! (to all you guys who celebrate it)
> 
> This chapter killed me. I drafted and re-drafted it and now i hate it (T言T╬)凸  
> Again there's too much dialogue so... sorry.  
> But I am glad I can finally show it to you guys.  
> Pls just take it. i'm over it already...  
> Hope enjoy and have happy holidays!  
> ⋆͛*͛ ͙͛ ❆(￣∇￣人￣∇￣)❆⋆͛*͛ ͙͛<

Chapt 3

 

Woojin made his way up the tin can elevator to the 5th floor of their company’s building. Jiyoons personal recording studio was on this floor so he decided to drop in. He knocked on the heavy wooden door. No response. If the boy inside was recording then there was no way he’d be able to hear a thing so Woojin took a chance and opened it anyway.

He was pleasantly surprised to see not only Jiyoon but Seunghyun and Chris too. Jiyoon was sat on his black, leather swivel chair, leaning to and from his computer desk and keyboard like a metronome. Huge headphones framed his small round face. Behind him, on the other side of the boxy room, sat the other two. They were comfortably perched on a worn-out leather couch. A laptop quietly hummed on Seunghyuns lap as Chris strummed the wires of his bass guitar.

They both looked up at Woojin when he gingerly entered, camera in hand. He gave no warning as he recorded them. Their blank stares were enlarged on the screen, frozen as if caught in a lie. Seunghyun raised his forefinger up to his lips. Nothing more needed to be said. By now they were all accustomed to unexpected cameras. Complying to his request, Woojin continued recording while the others got back to work. The atmosphere was charged with brain activity and focus. In fact Jiyoon was so absorbed in what he was doing he didn't even notice Woojin trip over a pile of magazines on his way out.

He heard Seunghyun and Chris burst out laughing behind him. Woojin picked up the scattered glossy fire hazards and cursed the two unnecessarily well dressed business tycoons grinning and shaking hands on the front cover. For some reason he blamed them.

 

Other than that little accident, it had been a good day for Woojin. He had leisurely walked around their company building taking candid clips of the band members on their day off. By now he must have taken dozens. He quickly sprinted up the white stair case of their dorm building looking forward to watching what he had recorded, in private.

Opening the door with a high pitched beep, he saw that the place was empty. It was silent in their tiny three bedroom apartment, save the dripping of the kitchen tap. No one had returned from practice yet. Relief flowed through him. With a grin on his face Woojin slid across the laminated floor boards in his white ankle socks. Through the empty lounge, past their compact but crowd-free kitchen and down the uninhabited short corridor.

He flung his bag into his shared room, slid his laptop out from under his pillow and settled down on the spongy blue couch (Minghans bed). With impatient fingers Woojin inserted the cameras memory card into his device and put his headphones in. Sat cross-legged, the laptop began to hum in his lap as it came to life.

Looking through the footage he had taken, he had prepared himself to be entertained by their mundane everyday interactions, overcome with fond nostalgia maybe. However he wasn’t. From the very first clip, seeing the boys in the dance studio, the footage was wrong.

Woojin noticed as soon as the recording started, there was an error in colour tinting the whole video. Everything was painted in hues of yellow. Then his ears caught the audio. The sound grated his senses. Hairs on the back of his neck rose. Over the expected dialogue coming from the members, there was a fuzzy tangle of conversations. Gentle voices spoke on top of one another as if multiple radio stations were playing simultaneously in the background.

Startled, Woojin ripped his headphones out of his laptop and re-watched the clip with his regular speakers. A cold sweat had spread down his back. The voices were still there. Furthermore, as he watched more intensely, he began to realise where the colour was coming from.

What looked like a dense cloud of pigmented smoke was rolling up from each person in the shot, as if they were stood on an ignited smoke flare. Thick clouds bathed the boys in their own individual shade of yellow but somehow they were oblivious of its presence.

Woojin smacked himself in the face. _I am NOT_ _going_ _insane._ He decided to carry out his most reliable method of technology maintenance, turning the device off and on again (obviously, the guy was no tech wiz). While his laptop restarted he took out the memory card, blew hot breaths over it, as if doing so would somehow miraculously improve its performance, then wiped it on his t-shirt and reinserted it. The boy even tried adjusting the video players settings on the off chance what he saw was caused by a software issue. Nothing changed.

He mindlessly stared at the footage running before his eyes, hopelessly defeated. This was no technical mistake. His mouth hung dry. Hearing all the voices talk at once was unnerving. Woojin began to seriously worry; _ha_ _ve I_ _finally gone_ _insane?_ He watched as the colours merged and changed. The hypnotic smoke rolled up like storm clouds crawling ominously over mountain ranges. Their voices wouldn’t stop.

Only one thing was clear from this. The thick haze saturating the shot in rich colour had always been there. It wasn’t something caused by the lens, it was simply revealed to him by it. The noise too. It hadn’t been accessible before but now that Woojin had the lens he could hear it. He just didn’t know what “it” was.

Woojin furrowed his eyebrows trying to find something, anything, that could explain what it was he was witnessing.

"Hey, Woo!"

A heavy force slammed into him. Woojin flew sideways. His heart nearly fell out his mouth. Stunned stiff, his body was trapped under a familiar weight.

"What the hell!? Stop doing that!" He yelled kicking Minghan off.

The heavy boy was practically sitting on top of him.

"Why? What are you doing on _my_ bed?" He asked smugly before looking down upon the half open laptop. A sly grin flashed across his face.

"If you wanted privacy you should have done _that_  in your own bed." His deep voice sounded frighteningly menacing.

Woojin wriggled away from him and composed himself.

"The hell? It’s not like that, I was watching the videos I took today. Damn Perv."

"Let me see then."

Together they sat side by side, each with an ear piece in. While Woojin played the clips, he tried to explain his findings. Minghan sat and listened keenly. His eyes transfixed on the screen. They were narrow and focused.

"Stop, stop, stop. Pause it for a sec." He pulled his ear piece out.

The abrupt objection startled Woojin yet again. He glared at the other in confusion,

“Why, why, why?” he repeated impatiently.

After a short pause Minghan answered,

“What are you talking about exactly? You’re saying with the lens you can see things and hear voices that aren’t actually there?"

"Well… when you put it like that it sounds dumb."

"No," He gravely shook his head, "no matter how you say it it sounds dumb."

"S-so? You have eyes, the proof is right in front of you! Look, in these photos too..." Woojin hastily flicked through a series of images on his laptop.

In the first Chris and Seunghyun were sat at a the back of Jiyoon’s studio, laughing their heads off. Sitting across the room from them was Jiyoon, his back turned to the camera. Surrounding him was thick yellow clouds of smoke. However in the sequential pictures, as they progressed, the colour of the smoke began to change. It appeared to be turning red. Waves of Orange rippled over yellow as the red bled through. It was as if a vivid sunset hung around the boy.

Minghan shrugged,

“I don’t see anything, though.”

Woojins face fell,

“Wait. Y-you really don’t see it?”

“Nope.”

“Nothing?”

“Nada.”

 

 _How!?_ _How_ _can_ _he_ _not see_ _it?,_ Woojin cried out in his mind. Adamantly, he continued with a nervous chuckle,

“It’s right there, though. They’re all big and fluffy and colourful-”

"-Cumulonimbus clouds." He was abruptly cut off.

"What?" He backtracked.

"You know, rain clouds? Big and fluffy rain clouds, they’re called cumulonimbus clouds. That’s probably what you’re seeing. I took Geography in high school so..."

Woojin was left unable to form any sort of response. Minghan was truly a man of useless knowledge. The cloud expert went on,

"You can only see it with that lens right? Maybe that thing’s cursed or something."

Woo thought for a bit. Whether Minghan was joking or not, he didn’t feel like laughing along.

"I guess that makes sense..." he sighed under his breath.

At that moment a high pitched beep echoed throughout the dorm followed by the opening and closing of a door. Loud restless voices could be heard approaching from the hallway. The others had returned home. Woo had to glance at the wall clock, not believing it was already 7:30pm.

Minghan hopped off the bed,

"Just what part of that “makes sense”? I was joking. Don’t get all spaced out and depressed just because I can’t see it too. I’ll still believe you. Even if you sound completely insane and no one else can understand what you’re saying, I’ll still believe you. Got it? Now, let's go."

He ruffled the others hair and without saying anything more, left to greet the others.

 

Tonight the managers had decided to celebrate the end of their promotional period by taking the boys out for a meal. Where exactly they were going was meant to be decided amongst the band members themselves but Woojin knew his one in eight chance of getting common Seafood was hopeless. He didn't mind though, at least not that much. He was far too preoccupied with his thoughts to care.

While waiting for the other members to shower and get dressed he sat there on the couch, unmoved, pondering over the recorded footage. He figured the coloured haze had to mean something but what? He sat there in his reasonably clean t-shirt and jeans, slowly sliding on a pair of ankle socks. As he did so his reeling mind left his body. Any sane thoughts he had seemed to spiral out of control.

After being led into the minivan, Woojin sat in the back and remained lost in his own world the whole way to the restaurant. Reason was kicking in and quickly sobered up his drunken brain. From the beginning it was impossible to think a lens could make something invisible, visible, right? What he saw was probably the result of some new type of technology somebody had created, like a filter, right?

The food was paraded out like royalty, draped in wispy white steam, but Woojin was oblivious. He heaved out a long sorrowful sigh. His eyes were glazed over like a dead fish. Despite all of the boys rationalising, there was no rationalising what he had recorded on his camera. Unless he was going crazy, that is.

"Hey, Woojin what're you day dreaming about?" Jiyoon asked from beside him.

He blinked and looked around. The members, managers and a few of the company’s crew were sat either side of him on rush mats, around a long glossy table.

The room was warmly lit and decorated with wide hanging ink paintings of wild horses. Before him was a banquet of dishes, steaming rice, noodles, sizzling BBQ meat, and an array of colourful side dishes. It was only now he noticed the delicious smell filling his senses, making him salivate. He shook his head dismissively and gobbled up a mouthful of rice. Jiyoon wore a confused stare on his face but quickly returned to his own dinner.

The managers had been kind enough to offer them as much meat as they wanted. This was both a gift and a curse. After only half an hour, half the members were lying on their backs, defeated by their stomachs limitations. Younghees over dramatic whines could be heard blaming the manager next to him. Even the wise little Jiyoon was groaning like a croaking frog from the pain. Woojin was looking down upon a post war battle field. Thank god he had controlled himself. Maybe it was good that his appetite hadn’t really been the first thing on his mind that night.

After a moving speech about accomplishing goals and good teamwork, given by their CEO’s representative on her behalf, the boy stood up and excused himself. It was too hot. Once he could start feeling the sweat drip down his side burn, he decided he needed fresh air. On his way out he saw most of the senior staff had migrated to the restaurant bar. He smiled to himself, admiring their loud animated merry.

Outside Woojin drank in the cool air like it was rainfall after a drought. He stood by the front doorway Looking up at the billions of gleaming stars. What a wonderful night, he thought like the sentimental guy he was. Suddenly the boy was interrupted by the ringing of the door, opening behind him. Spinning around he saw his manager, Four-eyes.

"What are you doing out here?" She asked a little too shocked. The short slim woman had straight cut, shoulder length hair tied up in a messy pony tail. Stray strands fell down her pale nape. Looking like she had just arrived from a hectic day at work, her clothes were the usual, an oversized beige cardigan over a white t-shirt, and denim jeans. It was amazing how the plain, bare faced woman had absolutely no discerning features other than her large square glasses.

Woojin turned back around,

"I needed fresh air. It’s too hot in there."

"Ah, I see." Four-eyes mumbled, hunched over as she stuck a cigarette between her thin lips. "You don't mind do you?" She asked despite already attempting to light it. The tiny spark flicked on and off with a harsh grating.

If he was being completely honest, Woojin did mind, he didn't like drunk people and he hated the smell of cigarettes even more. However tonight was a celebration so keeping in good spirits the boy didn't say anything.

Woojin actually liked most of his managers, Four-eyes included. Their relationships had more of a “clean and professional” feeling than the ones he had with his band mates. This gave him room to keep a certain distance from them which, to him, was preferable. Getting too close to others required energy he just didn’t have.

That being said, out of all the managers, Woojin probably liked Four-eyes the most. There wasn’t any particular reason why. The mild mannered 30-something year old had always treated them fairly. She was practical and supportive like any good manager should be. She was the kind of person who played her role so well, she became a forgettable background character. This, in Woojin’s eyes, made her that much more dependable.

 

"I know it's a bad habit. I keep telling my boy friend I'll stop for good but here I am." She drew out a long puff of smoke. Her big semi rimmed glasses reflected the tiny moon as she blew up towards the sky. She wasn't drunk yet but from her flushed face it was obvious she was well on her way.

“But it's okay. I'm not young any more, no point in worrying about me. I'm a lost cause! A goner! Not like you kids. Even if I stop now, what good would it do? I may as well enjoy myself while I can."

Woojin gave a short nod in response. He didn't know how else to reply. The way the sad wet cloth spoke was depressing. She wasn’t even that old.

"That was quite some speech by the CEO, right?" She suddenly proclaimed.

Oh no, Woojin had a sinking feeling he knew where this was going. The woman was making small talk. Woojin was terrible at small talk. Four-eyes continued,

"What she wrote about ‘ _overcoming hardships just to get to this point’_ is so accurate! It really does feel like that, doesn’t it? I didn’t even think we’d make it to the starting line if I’m being honest. I remember arriving at SOPA to scout and seeing you perform for the first time. You were shit, so bad!” She shook her head, letting out a husky chuckle, “But somehow we knew you were a perfect fit. Jiyoon really knows what he wants, the stubborn bastard wouldn’t take no for an answer. It’s still early days but you kids have come so far since then, despite me being an old wheezing Auntie and you kids, just kids!"

It was even sadder when she referred to herself as old and wheezing. She really wasn’t that old.

"Yes, I'll continue to work hard." Woojin said automatically, mostly out of politeness but there was a little sincerity in there. Auntie was right to be feeling so proud.

 

Suddenly Four-eyes let out a heated sigh,

"Woojin, how long have we known each other? God, this part of you has always pissed me off!”

He stared at her in shock.

“You’re a good kid and you work hard but honestly, seriously, what’s up with you? It’s been a year, a whole year, and you still act like we’re complete strangers. And it’s not just with me either. I’m only saying this because I’m pissed off with you right now and a little drunk. Last night wasn’t the first time you choked during an interview was it.”

They both knew that wasn’t a question, it was a stabbing statement.

“How are you going to get people to take you seriously if you can’t even talk to them properly?”

She looked up at the silent scrawny kid with pity,

“Woojin, listen to me closely because I wont tell you again. If you want people to listen to your message you have to show them you’re someone worth listening to. I know you’d rather speak through your music but people aren’t that generous. Now a days it’s not enough to just have decent songs. You need to fight for their attention. You need to earn their respect, only then will they follow your words.

Right now, as you are, you’re no where near good enough. Last night you had the opportunity to convey what your music was saying, to all those journalists who were willing to listen to you. Forget how they’d interpret your words or regurgitate them, one way or another, they were still willing to listen to what you had to say. To the you who has an important message to tell the world. Do you get it? I shouldn’t even be having to tell you this, Woojin. Don’t you want your voice to be heard? At this rate you’ll never achieve your goal.”

Woojin understood, and because he understood he felt guilty. Four-eyes always worked so hard for their sake. She had taken the time and effort to invite all those reporters there for a reason. It would have all been a waste had it not been for his other members. He was the only one lacking.

“So then what do I do?" He asked, voice almost inaudible, "It’s like you said, something’s probably “up” with me so how can I earn their respect when I’m like this?” 

After thinking it over for a while Four eyes finally answered,

“Hm, that’s a big question… too big of a question. You basically just asked me how you can win over the whole world. Only the president- no- God, only God could answer that!”

“God?!”

“Yeah God. I guess being an idol is kinda like being God, you get a lot of followers.” She joked with a small grin.

The boy let out a short empty laugh.

“Sorry.” She apologised. She could probably see the disappointment in his face. “Just take my advise as your caring manager, Woojin. You're young, now’s the time to be bold. Aren’t all you nuke kids supposed to be gritty and tough? Start acting like it then.” she grunted in agreement with herself.

Woojin’s finger twitched. _What was this shitty four-eyes saying now?_ He thought. Meanwhile she blabbed on,

“I probably shouldn’t be telling you this- no, I _know_ I shouldn’t be telling you this but don’t think it was easy getting the company to take you boys on. You kids had a message that was risky from the start. We took a gamble on you so don’t take it for granted. Grab every chance you can get by the horns!

You kids probably already understand this since you’re not dumb but let me remind you to keep pushing forwards, especially now that everyone’s eyes are on you. Believe it or not but you boys are becoming a big deal. Keep causing a stir and soon the whole of Korrica will follow you against the Administration!"

The drunk lady suddenly smacked him over the back, amusing herself. It stung. A heavy concoction of alcohol and smoke burned Woojins eyes. He wanted out. He had had enough. His mind was a mess. This crazy old woman was talking too much and implying things she shouldn’t be. Wide eyed and speechless he stared at the ground and made his escape.

Mumbling some excuse, he bowed and quickly retreating through the glass doors. As he hastily walked away all he heard was four-eyes's distant and cheery call,

"Bye bye, Woojinnie! You've worked hard! You've done well! Enjoy the party!"

 

Why would she say such an obscene thing? It was probably just the alcohol talking. Probably. But then again the managers always knew when something was up. It was too much for Woojin to process. Was he really that far behind?

Thinking in circles, he finally realised he didn’t know anything. He didn’t know anything about the lens, about the responsibilities of being in the public eye, about becoming a God. It wasn't exactly something they had discussed when they first decided to form a group.

As he was deep in thought, blindly pacing back to their booked room, Woojin didn't see the tall figure before him. Bang. He crashed headfirst into someone's chest.

"Woojin?"

 


	4. Chapt 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!  
> The New Year has officially started in the UK so i'm wishing you all better times ahead!!  
> Stay safe and happy and no matter what, never give up! ✧ ─=≡Σ((( つ•̀ω•́)つ 
> 
> That being said, I apologise for such late updates. I've been taking way too much time reviewing and rewriting these chapters and I'm sorry T T  
> I hope you guys can forgive me for being so slow and of course for the shitty grammar  
> SO this chapter is kinda messy so message me if you get confused or if you have any feedback for me!  
> Actually just message me anything tbh. It's not like I have a life outside this website.  
> But yeah enjoy ಥ‿ಥ
> 
> Also recommended songs for the mood of this chapter is Fourth of July by FOB and Sun Shower by UNICORN. These songs give me life

Chapt 4

 

"Woojin? Are you okay?" Minghan was tightly gripping his upper arm. His warm brown eyes stared down with concern. Woojin took a moment to realise where he was. Then suddenly out of no where he exploded into hysterical laughter. He couldn't help it. High pitched cries poured out of his lungs like a river. What happened just now was too good. Had he really just been told by an “old wheezing Auntie” to get his shit together? That was just too good!

Woojin followed his friend airily back to the restaurant room. He was still bowled over from the odd conversation he had just had with his manager, as well as ricochetting off his bandmates chest. His mind really was scrambled. That day seemed to be getting stranger and stranger by the minute.

In the restaurant dining room he looked down at the mess of members sprawled out on top of each other on the floor. Some were cradling their plump round food babies as they dozed off. Then he heard a click beside him. Minghan had taken a photo of them. The boy turned to face him with a wide mischievous grin.

"I took your camera just before we left. You've been so out of it tonight you didn't even notice."

"Sorry." He mumbled.

"Don't apologise to me. Apologise to them when they wake up." Minghan gleefully snapped another candid picture.

Woojin thought for a while,

“Hey, Minghan, I think I’ve lost my mind.”

“Hm? Why?” the boy didn’t even bother to look away from the camera.

“Nothing, just this and that. Hey, do you really believe me, about the clouds and the lens?”

“Hm... Yeah probably. Who’d make up a joke like that?” Click, he took another photo.

The words fell from his mouth so easily. Woojin smiled. He felt an overwhelming fondness in that moment. What the manager had said was right, the part about being bold. They were young and stupid and could be as reckless as they wanted. Now wasn't the time to let that slip away. Now was the time to make mistakes, fall in and out of love, learn and grow before they would have to shoulder the oncoming responsibility.

As he looked down at his dumb looking band mates, some snoring, others drooling, he was very thankful for everything they had accomplished together. So thankful that from the table he picked up a thick black marker pen.

"Hey Minghan, I have an idea. Take a photo of this..."

 

Monday morning, Woojin was woken up by a door slamming. His senses were not yet fully aroused but he managed to make out the sounds of muffled talking and water flushing through walls. The other members must have already been up and getting ready.

Woojin slowly shifted his heavy body around, like a spit roast turning over a fire, only to be pulled back into someone’s embrace. Two strong arms wrapped around his chest. Waves of hot breath washed down his nape. He snapped open his eyes and kicked whoever it was behind him. He had a good feeling he knew who. A deep, winded groan confirmed his suspicions. Woojin sat up to find he was on the sofa bed, still in last nights jeans. He quickly crawled over Minghans bare torso and stumbled off the bed.

He didn’t remember much from what had happened the previous night other than a few ambiguous events. After riding the wave of juvenile excitement from drawing on their band mates faces, the two boys had sneaked into the bar to join their seniors. Although alcohol was banned for trainees who had to maintain a “clean” physical and social image, Woojin could remember he and Minghan slipping a few bottles under the table from the very drunk Four-eyes. In the mood for something new and reckless, he haphazardly drank away.

After that things became increasingly cloudy. From the vague fuzziness of what he could recall emerged only a few moments of clarity. The feeling of numbing Adrenalin rushing throughout him came crashing back. Wind-cooled sweat dripped off his chin. Blurry street lights flew passed. He saw his own two feet sprinting from underneath him against the white striped tarmac.

Their laughter rung out over distant police sirens and barking dogs. Panting heavily, they were running away from something, but what was it again? Of course, it must have been their bandmates but the current him couldn’t know for sure. He only remembered the broad back running in front of him, Minghans back. Reaching out messily, an urgent, unrestrained euphoria surged through him. Woojin had never felt so free, running like a madman in the sweltering summer heat. It was sparkling. His view was sparkling before him.

Stumbling to a stop down a narrow back ally, through thin wispy curtains of hanging willow branches, their chests rose and fell. Shallow breaths filled the still, street-light lit air between them. Flecks of golden light danced across Minghans face, revealing his glassy brown eyes. Suddenly all concern was thrown to the wind. Open lips crashed together. The feeling of hot sweaty skin pressed against his, flooded Woojins senses. Clumsy hands found their way under his shirt and up his bare back. They lifted him up by the waist and pinned him against a wall. Woojin wrapped his arms and legs around the other, holding on with all his might. Panting fast shaky breaths towards the ground, he pressed his forehead against Minghans. Desperately they clung onto each other as if their very survival depended on it. A rough wet tongue slid back inside-

"So…!"

Woojin snapped back to reality. Hiro was watching them through suspicious squinted eyes,

"Did Bonny and Clyde manage to sleep well? You two sons of bitches get enough rest after that stunt you pulled? Hm, you traitors?"

The remnants of their prank was still faint on his face. Woojin pinched the bridge of his nose to stop the throbbing behind his eyes. It was 7am and he hadn't even been allowed to finish his first mug of coffee. He sat at the kitchen counter opposite Hiro and growled,

"Hiro, for the last time, it wasn't a planned prank and we're sorry. Please don’t make such a big deal out of this, the marker washed off didn't it?"

"My face hurts from scrubbing and I can still see the god damn piece of turd! It's a big deal when it affects my handsome face, Rae Woojin, it's a very big deal!" Hiro leaned over the counter top with a crumbling slice of toast hanging from his mouth and gave him a serious matter-of-fact eyebrow raise. Woo let out a long grating groan. It was too early for this. While the two bickered Minghan quietly shuffled around the kitchen to himself.

 

Yesterday had marked the beginning of their well deserved vacation. Evidently it had been quite eventful. Today however, a more calm, relaxed atmosphere had resettled over their dorm.

Some of the members were still asleep but most were at the studio, practising. Despite it being only the second day into their “vacation” the dedicated members made sure not to slack off. Their line of work wasn’t a case of 9-5, switch on- switch off. It was a lifestyle which required overwhelming dedication. Releasing an album was nothing, any band could do that much, their goals were much higher.

It was then that Seunghyun walked into the open plan lounge and kitchen. He crouched down and shoved his black sneakers on.

"You look flashy!" Hiro called out to him from across the room.

He did. His plain black baseball cap and loose tank top looked good on his broad, muscular frame. A black face mask covered his nose and mouth. The usual scabs and bruises speckled his arms. It was only now Woojin realise he had never seen Seunghyun without injuries. What was strange to him was that he had never questioned it before. Upon first sight, their leader had always looked like that.

Over his shoulder hung a large royal blue sports bag.

"I'm going into the studio for my performance evaluation then home for the weekend." Seunghyun said.

Performance evaluations were, as the name suggested, an assessment of the trainees abilities held at the end of every two weeks. It was usually a short meeting with their trainers and of course, Four-eyes.

The others wished him safe travels and bid him goodbye. Shortly after Chris swooped into the room and followed their leaders actions. He slid on his ridiculously expensive sneakers and rushed out the door, his bulky guitar bag hitting him on the way out.

Not even a few minutes later Seunghyun popped his head back through the door and called into the room,

"Woojin, come here for a minute?"

 

They stood in the buildings pristine white stairway. The multiple flights of stairs ran up the side of the building and was accessible to everyone who lived there. It was a spacious corridor which allowed access to each floor. On each floor was the same 2 bathroom, 3 bedroom apartment and each was inhabited by different parties but all used the stairway to enter and leave.

Woojin stood there in his thin baggy shorts and flip-flops.

"Wait," He whipped out his camera and began filming the two in front of him.

"It's... It's for a project." he blurted out.

Woojin suddenly felt his face go red as he was directly met with Seunghyuns bewildered glare. He didn't know how to act in front of their intimidating leader. The boy panicked,

“H-hey, wh- what’s up with your arms?”

“Nothing. Are you done?”

“Yes. I apologise." the boy mumbled as fast as possible and put down his camera.

Chris held himself back from laughing with an ugly face. The intimidating stone wall that was Seunghyun continued to glare at Woojin as if he'd just farted, with peculiar disgust. His face mask was tucked under his chin. Like lightning, Woojin snapped one last picture of them. They looked too funny like that.

"Stop that!" Seunghyun barked, “You don’t have any sense, do you? Why the hell are you acting like some fuckin’ reporter?”

He looked annoyed. He was probably annoyed. Their leader continued,

"Look, I’m giving you a chance to explain yourself here. It’s about last night. Exactly what happened?"

Woojins heart stopped. He continued to smile, trying to form words, but nothing came out. Everything froze. His brain was short circuiting. Why couldn’t he breath?

“Actually, on second thought, save it. I don’t want to hear any of your excuses. You have to do all the chores for the next two weeks, no help from the others. I don’t care about whatever practice or assignments you have. Minghan will do it the next two weeks after. I can’t believe you guys were stupid enough to go drinking in front of the managers. What were you thinking?” Seunghyun shook his head.

Woojin eyes snapped up at him. Anxiety flushed out of the boy like an opening dam. He didn’t know, Seunghyun didn’t know about the kiss. Woojin was safe.

 

 

After the two had left Woojin returned to the, now empty, living room and sat himself on the narrow bed. The bed, belonging to their youngest member Younghee, was positioned against the wall opposite their tiny box of a television. It was often used as a couch for the members to play video games on but it wasn’t comfortable at all. In fact it was so hard Woojin began to feel guilty towards their lead vocalist.

The tired boy sighed as he fell onto his back. _Don’t worry_ , he reassured himself, _only 11 more hours before it was acceptable to sleep again._ As he sunk deeper into the mattress he turned his head to see the camera laying beside him. He contemplated for a moment. After staring at it for a while Woojin grabbed it.

He sat with knees tucked under his chin, intently watching the clip he had just recorded. Just as he had expected, there it was on the camera screen. Thick smoke surrounding the two boys rose up from where they stood. He gazed closely. It was a greyish colour today. Yesterday Seunghyuns cloud had been yellow. What had changed from then to now? He had been laughing the other day when Woojin recorded him. Could it have anything to do with that?

It was the sound of plastic wheels rolling on laminated floor boards which stole his attention back from himself. Looking up towards the corridor entrance, he saw Minghan stood properly dressed in jeans and a cap, with his suitcase beside him.

"You're taking such a big suitcase? I thought you were only there for two nights."

"Why? Would you miss me if I was gone longer?" the boy smirked arrogantly, "Just kidding. My mum wants me to take back all the stuff I don't use here, and there are some gifts for them in there too."

There was silence after that. Neither of them had anything else to say. They both knew the drill when a member went back home to visit family. Minghan would be seen off by whoever was around then get taken by the company car to the train station or airport or wherever.

In this case he would be taken to the underground shuttle station. Soon Minghan would be riding through rolling green valleys, into the heart of the agriculture district. There his parents and younger sisters would probably welcome him with a big warm hug and tables of fresh food. It would be one of the only occasions they would leave the fields for. Woojin was jealous.

A thought about asking what had happened between them last night suddenly crossed his mind but instead of listening to it he quickly grabbed it by the throat and thrust it back down into his sub-conscience. It was much too early to be opening that gate to hell. Plus he wasn’t in the mood to deal with any more emotional turmoil. The past few days had been stressful enough.

Woojin stood up and followed Minghan to the door. Just before opening it Minghan hesitated. The boy suddenly spun around to face him, a forced smile on his face,

“Woojin, about last night-”

"I'll see you in three days then!"

Slam. He shut the door in Minghans face.

 

Woojin fell back into the bright red and black gaming chair. He swivelled around in it, adjusting it to fit his needs. In front of the boy was a large desktop, two small speakers and a digital mixing desk. He inserted his cameras memory chip into the computer.

After basically kicking Minghan out, Woojin had decided to forget about everything and focus on his producing. He had made his way to the company studios, guitar and camera in hand. Unsurprisingly, upon arrival the boy bumped into Jiyoon who practically lived in his studio.

The producer was scolding his other members, Younghee and Hiro, for complaining about vocal training. He had said something along the lines of,

“In the end vocals are the most important part of being an idol. It’s what people expect from us. You can be the best at rapping or dancing or looking good but none of that will make you an idol. It’d make you a rapper or a dancer or a model, correct? I’m not saying they’re not important but the most valuable thing you guys have is your voice so focus on it.”

It was then that Woojin had a brilliant idea. He just needed to focus on the voices. Perhaps then he would be able to find out more about the lens. He decided to borrow Star boys studio, since the guy had gone home for a few days, and analyse the audio in the videos. With the technology he had, he figured he should be able to decipher what each one was saying.

The boy pressed play. Blocks of coloured lines spiked across the screen like a polygraph.

“Man, he looks like an idiot. Oh, I missed a beat. Shit.”

“Minghan’s dancing is so bad it’s hilarious. Seriously how can a guy like him be real?”

“Ah fuck this, I’m just gonna dance how I want.”

Woojins stomach plummeted. He shot forwards, leaning off the chair, his wide eyes trembling. He recognised these voices. He had heard them before. In fact he heard them everyday. He was more familiar with these voices than he was with his own family. Shaking, the boy couldn’t calm down his racing heart.

 

That evening Chris returned flustered and sweaty. The door beeped open and he burst in, guitar bag first.

He suddenly heaved out a huge breath,

“It’s too frikin’ hot!!” The red faced boy flung his shoes off across the entrance landing where they kept their shoes. The boys, who were sat sprawled around the living room and kitchen, all turned to look at him in perfect synchronisation. Their mouths full with rice and leftover veg. Only the sound of their 4 ft electric fan could be heard humming over the silence.

The boy let out another exhausted sigh and spoke as he headed to his and Star boys room,

“It’s been a while since we were all here, apart from Leader... and Minghan that is… oh also Star boy too- you know what? Forget I said that. Jiyoon has he messaged you yet?” He called out.

All eyes now turned to the little guy sitting on the counter top, his chipmunk cheeks stuffed.

“Who, Seunghyun? Yeah, he reached home a few hours ago. Also he said Woojin has to cook and clean up for the next two weeks so “we’re all scot-free”, his words not mine.” Jiyoon grinned mischievously at Woojin.

The others laughed and jeered. Meanwhile Chris walked back into the kitchen, already comfortably dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. He grabbed himself a bowl and began serving himself.

“Hey, have any of you been able to reach Four-eyes today? She wasn’t at the office. Seunghyun couldn’t have his performance evaluation.” He asked, back turned to the others.

No one replied with anything coherent, just noises indicating “No”. It was then Woojin recalled a glimpse of last night. The last time he remembered seeing the woman, she had been happily wasted at the bar while Minghan recording them. After that he lost track.

Just as he went to open his mouth, Younghee spoke,

“That’s weird! Four-eyes never misses performance evals. Actually I don’t remember the last time she’s missed a day of work. Something must be wrong.”

“Maybe she got a really bad hangover from the party?” Hiro added.

“Could be. Her boyfriend hasn’t called in or anything so it’s probably nothing.”

Then Woojin finally joined in,

“If she doesn’t contact us or the company in a few days we’ll go check on her.”

The rest of the members agreed.

 

After everyone had eaten Woojin returned to his room. He lay on his back looking up at the cracked ceiling. On his chest he held up a cheap plastic-y hand-held fan he had won at the 24hr games arcade. Its gentle buzzing filled the empty room. Although they didn’t have a wall clock, the boy was certain if they did he’d be able to hear it.

He was all alone and it was too quiet.

Feeling restless, Woojin grabbed his phone from beside his pillow. He didn’t even bother to turn his head to find it. The heat wouldn’t permit him to do so. It was the heats fault he was so lazy. Tentatively, his thumb hovered over the name for what felt like forever. He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed it.

It rang in his ear. It went on ringing, on and on. Woojin wanted to throw his phone off the bed. He was not a patient man. Finally he heard signs of life on the other side,

“Woojin?”

His eyes shot open. Instantly his voice dried up. It wasn’t too late to throw his phone away if he did it right then and there, immediately, at once. Woojin took a deep breath in and clenched his fist.

“M-minghan, what are you doing now you punk!”

Upon hearing his own words he cringed. Why was he like this?

“Mm… Nothing much.”

Woojin apologised to him in his mind for being the way he was,

“Same here. How’s home? Did you reach safely?”

“Mm.”

“Ah, really? Good.”

“Mm.”

“How’s your family? Are they doing okay?”

“Mm.”

Silence. _Shit_ , Woojin thought, _it’s so frikin’ awkward._ Minghans gentle breathing was now the focus of his attention. It felt strange hearing it so distinctly down the phone. Only now did Woojin realise, they didn't call each other often. Actually, had they ever spoken to each other on the phone before? It felt like this was the first time.

Woojin took a deep breath in and pushed on,

“I’m sorry about earlier. This morning when I… I’m- I wasn’t ready… I’m sorry. Can we… Can we talk now?”

There was another long pause. He could feel Minghan thinking.

“...But Woojin… we _are_ talking right now.”

 _This fucker!_ Woojin could hear him grinning from the other end. It was just like all the interviews they had been in before, the moment Minghan opened his mouth all tension just disappeared. Poof. Everything was okay now.

“It’s okay, I wasn’t really mad or anything. I was almost late for my shuttle anyway so it was good you kicked me out. So, what did you want to talk about? Are you missing me already?” His boisterous voice bombarded Woojins ear. In the background he could hear people talking, singing, laughing. Minghan must have been very happy, together with his family.

Woojin gulped,

“Y-you sound good. You sound like you’re having a grand old time, Minghan you fucker! There’s no way I’d ever be missing you!” Somehow he ended up yelling.

The other laughed hard. It sounded sweet like honey. Woojins cheeks suddenly felt hot.

“M-minghan! Lets talk about last night!”

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi hi! Guess who's back!  
> ...Sorry... I know. I haven't been uploading at all. Yall probably don't even remember any of this story. tbh I don't remember any of this story. ha. ha... ಥ‿ಥ  
> But yeah, here you go.  
> Again there's a lot of dialogue. Ok, from now on just assume that this whole thing is a shitty script with bad grammar cool?  
> Thanks. But I actually really enjoyed writing this chapter (and also the next one which is pretty angsty not gonna lie sorry lol)  
> Anyways as always, I hope you like it (+｀ﾟ∀´)=b ｸﾞｯ

Chapt 5

 

Seunghyun paced up and down the dimly lit office. Anger erupted from each harsh step. All the blinds were drawn. The smell of coffee and cigarettes lingered in the air. Report files were haphazardly lying around on the desk. A small potted plant sat beside the outdated computer. On the faded cracked walls hung a few framed certificates and a photo of two uniformed men shaking hands. Opposite the table was two empty, tattered chairs, one of which had been occupied by the boy.

Suddenly the door swung open. A young police officer dressed smartly in his black uniform led a chain of large bulky men into the room. Their suits seemed to be fighting to stay buttoned onto their colossal bodies. Lined up like a row of tanks, they greeted Seunghyun with a swift but deep bow and filed back out. Without a word he followed.

 

A luminous sliver of light shone through the crack between drawn drapes. From behind a lavish mahogany desk, the beam of light revealed speaks of floating dust. It washed over his scowling face as he passed through it, marching back and forth. Why was he left waiting, again?

Tick tock. The chrome wall clock was the only sound disrupting the drawn out silence. It was clear this office was the complete opposite to the one he had just been in. Large, spacious, minimalist and sophisticated, there was no sign of laborious work. Everything looked brand new. Not a single expensive item was out of place. Seunghyun lifted his black cap, ran his fingers through stringy messy hair and forcefully shoved it back on. He couldn’t stop grating his teeth. The taste of iron on his tongue.

Finally the door opened. Striding in, briskly like a cold winter breeze, was a tall slender man. Dressed in a perfectly fitted grey suit and polished brown shoes, the man swooped past Seunghyun and took his seat behind his desk.

Suavely undoing the middle button of his suit jacket as he sat, he did nothing to acknowledge the boys presence. Seunghyun eyed him from under his cap. The man elegantly pulled at each of his crisp white cuffs. On the back of his skeletal hands, peaking from under his sleeves, were bold coloured tattoos.

“Apologies for being late. Did I make you wait long?” A single strand of hair fell from his immaculately slicked side part. The man was a well oiled business tycoon. Other than his tattoos he looked like the highest paid CEO in Korrica. Compared to him Seunghyun was nothing more than a filthy stray dog.

“No. What did you want?” Seughyun grunted coldly.

Only now did the man look at him. Piercing silver eyes cast a heavy gaze over him. His non-existent eye brows gave him a vague, bored look from behind rectangular glasses. The man placed his elbows upon the glossy table and interlocked his long bony fingers.

“If you do not treat your hosts with respect, how can you expect to be treated with any in return, hm, Mr Oh Seunghyun? I hope you realise it does not pleasure me to have to pick you up every single time you decide to blow a fuse. Much less to inform your father of this kind of behaviour whenever we meet.”

Seunghyun scoffed,

“Please just get to the point, Watanabe.”

The well dressed man let out a tired sigh. Leaning back in defeat, he swivelled around in his black leather chair with a low creek. The sound lingered in the silence. Back turned on the boy, Watanabe finally spoke,

“Well then, let’s start with you telling me what happened. You had been doing well up till now, what happened? Talk. I’ll give you a chance to explain yourself.”

Although his words weren’t outrightly malicious, it was obvious from his tone that he wasn’t in a forgiving mood. The man wasn’t exactly known for his generosity. Seunghyun didn’t say a word. Speaking carelessly would not end well for him. He just stared at the back rest of the tall leather chair. There was another long pause.

Watanabe seemed to enjoy taking his time before continuing.

“I’m your fathers business partner, Seunghyun, not your baby sitter. This kind of behaviour, going around getting into petty fights, playing band with a bunch of hippy kids. Grow up. Who are you kidding huh?” He turned back around, annoyance flashed across his face, “Just what are we supposed to say when the secretary of Homeland Security’s son walks around looking like that, huh?”

He thrust a silver ink pen in Seunghyuns direction, pointing specifically at the torn up t-shirt hanging off his shoulders. Fresh cuts and bruises littered the boys arms. Smudges of red, purple and blue stained his pale skin like ink blots seeping through paper. Seunghyuns right sweatpants leg had been rolled up to reveal a carelessly bandaged knee and, had it not been for his cap, his bleeding brow and swollen cheek would have been given away as well.

Almost as if mourning the death of someone vaguely important to him, Watanabe gravely hung his head. The disappointment in his voice was hard to miss. He spoke roboticly to the desk,

“This is your last chance. If anything like this happens again we _will_ take action. Always remember I know exactly where your biggest weakness lies. Or rather I know exactly _who_ your biggest weakness is. You are dismissed.”

 

That Monday night was hot like usual. Woojin lay on his back, leg propped up on his knee. Baggy shorts and oversized tank top hung off his body and pooled around him. Being alone gave him a new found appreciation for the sounds drifting in through the open window. Buzzing insects and barking dogs cried from somewhere in the city. Sweat dripped off his forehead as he waited patiently in silence.

“M-minghan? Did you hear me? I said, lets talk about last night.”

“I heard you. What about last night do you want to talk about?”

“Well...” Woojin carefully selected his words, “I need to know, do you remembered anything weird that happened to Four-eyes.”

“Four eyes?”

“Four-eyes.” Woojin confirmed, “She didn’t go into work today and no one’s heard from her...”

“Oh.”

“I think something’s happened to her. Something bad probably.” he paused to collect his thoughts, “I was going through the videos on my camera and found the footage from last night. You were filming us the whole time, right? Well, some of it is missing.”

“Missing?” Minghan repeated back without fully grasping what the other was saying.

“Yeah. It cuts off while Four-eyes is recording us running away. She’s chasing after us then it skips straight to what I shot this morning-”

Minghan interrupted,

“Oh yeah, I remember that. I gave her the camera so that we could run away from the others. I knew they wouldn’t go after her. She was trying to catch up to us but since she’s short, well, obviously she fell pretty far behind. I don’t know what happened to her after that. By then we were… W-we were already pretty far ahead by then...”

Silence settled over their conversation like thick wet concrete. Woojin suddenly burned up as he remembered exactly what they had been doing “by then”. His stomach churned. He found himself reliving that uncomfortable, prickly feeling of embarrassment and he was sure Minghan was too. Rather than what the boy had said, it was more what he couldn’t say that had left a heavy weight in the air. It was then that Woojin realised, he wasn’t the only one who was troubled by what they had done.

He quickly salvaged the situation,

“Y-yeah, I figured you wouldn’t remember. Ha ha. S-so useless!” Nervous laughter trickled out his mouth.

 _This isn’t good for my he_ _art_ _,_ He heaved to himself, _Just now,_ _I_ _wasn’t being_ _too obvious_ _was I_ _?_ Swallowing down anxiety, Woojin pushed all other thoughts aside and got back on track. He began to explain to Minghan the very reason why he had called him. He told him what he had seen through the lens.

 

_The camera was pointed at the running boys, their tiny backs disappearing into the dark. Her breathing was loud and heavy over the footage as she ran after them. The view messily shook up and down. Finally it stumbled to a stop. Without thought, she seemed to lower the camera in her hand. Something was in front of her, blocking her way. Faced down towards the ground, all that could be seen was grey concrete. Woojin heard her thoughts quietly pleading,_

_‘What’s that? -i’m scared- what’s going on? -don’t come near me- Wait- I’M SCARED!”_

 

“Scary, right? Being able to hear her thoughts like that, it isn’t normal.”

There was rustling from the other end of the line. Finally the other replied,

“...hm yeah, I mean, that’s pretty out there. Weird.”

Woojin couldn’t help but snort,

“That’s all you have to say about that? Talk about a boring reaction.”

“Heh, I was just telling you the truth. What more did you want me to say?”

“Nothing, nothing. Just keep telling me the truth. Never lie to me, Yeo Minghan.”

“Woah my heart just skipped a beat.” They joked.

They went on joking around and laughing like two idiot monkeys until Woojin stopped. His voice was suddenly sombre and clear down the phone,

“So, what do we do?”

“What _can_ we do? No one will believe us.” Minghan voiced both their thoughts out loud. He was right, no one would ever believe them which left them only one option. Woojin let out a deep breath,

“We’ve got no choice. We have to find her ourselves.”

 

After a vague pause Minghan said something Woojin never would have expected in a million years,

“Oh yeah, my mum got a phone call from you aunt.”

Woojin twisted his face into an ugly frown. How could that be? His Aunt and Minghans parents weren’t friends. In fact they had only ever met once, when the two boys first moved into the company dorms.

“She said she wanted to know how you were. She worries about you a lot, apparently. Hey Woojin, I know this isn’t any of my business but, have you not contacted them in a while? Your Aunt and Uncle must have been desperate to ask my mum about you. Even _she_ was surprised when she got the call.”

It had been almost half a year since he had had any sort of communication with his Aunt and Uncle and that had merely been a text message thanking them for the birthday card. They sent one every year since he had moved away.

Minghan continued after Woojin didn’t reply,

“We only have a week off. Go talk to them already. No, even better, go visit them. Even if it’s just for a day, they deserve that much from you Rae Woojin. We can deal with Four-eyes after. It’s not that she’s not important but all of that is a bit...well, it’s a big deal. Whatever has happened to her, it doesn’t look good. We can’t just rush into something like that. We need to think things through properly and come up with some sort of game plan. We might even have to tell the others about it. Who knows? So, before all that, go visit your family. It would be better to go into this kind of thing with a clear head, right?”

 _H_ _e’s right,_ Woojin thought to himself. It would take time and effort to find Four-eyes and it wasn’t like they could do anything about it right now. They didn’t know anything other than something bad had happened to her. Four-eyes’s own boyfriend probably hadn’t even noticed she was missing yet. For all he knew, she could have pulled an all-nighter at the office.

There was no excuse for him not to go back. In fact, maybe going back to that place, to organise his thoughts, was the best thing to do right now. Although it was the last place he wanted to visit, it was a good place to think. Being the only one who had a chance at finding her, he had to just keep pushing on with clarity. Besides, he couldn’t avoid his aunt and uncle forever. All he knew was that he absolutely could not abandon her.

“I’ll go if you come with me.” He muttered.

 _Wait wait wait! Why did he suddenly say that?_ Panic hit him as he caught himself thinking out loud. That wasn’t what he was going to say. Of course, the thought of going back there alone was what had triggered that response but he never intended to _say_ it. He waited for the others answer, holding his breath in apprehensive anticipation.

It didn’t take Minghan long to reply,

“...Get your god-damn bags packed! We go tomorrow!”

“Huh!? Seriously!?”

 

Woojin lugged his huge back-pack like a camel in the heat. He couldn’t go on any longer. Stopping to catch his breath, he bent forwards, hands on his knees. His chest quickly rose and fell. Sweat dripped from his nose onto the pale grey concrete between his shoes. Plip, plip.

The tiny black pools dried up almost instantly. Woojin watched them from the shade of his cap. He could hear the cries of street vendors and an aeroplane somewhere in the distance. Kids were laughing. Bicycle bells rang. A dog began to barked. He was surrounded by a sea of bustling people. Some rushing past, others ambling in large groups. All their voices melded into one overwhelming whirlpool of sound. He slowly crouched down, pressing his palms against his ears. It was too loud. It was too hot. It was too bright.

Suddenly everything became dark. A large shadow appeared over him. Woojin snapped his head up. The first thing he saw was a large tanned hand offering him a white earphone. Woojin squinted. Stood shrouded in light was Minghan. He gave him a strange look,

“What are you doing? People are staring. Get up.”

Behind the boy, Woojin could just make out the tram station. Instead of taking the ear piece, he grabbed the boys forearm and hoisted himself up. Minghan almost fell forwards from the force.

“I hate you for making me do this.” Woojin heaved.

 

The two walked into the white stone station, white headphones playing in Woojins ears. The dated architecture was similar to an old Gothic cathedral. A large circular window with stained glass let in streams of multicoloured light. Each step echoed off the crumbling pillars. They continued under tall pointed arches where fluffy, four winged doves nestled along its ledges.

However, as they ascended further up a glass elevator, the ancient exterior slowly broke away into a modern skyscraper. The strange hybrid structure had clearly been created by building onto the remains of some historic building. The weathered towers were elongated with glass. The old cathedral was just a hollow shell for a bigger more modern station.

After paying, the boys stood on the edge of the platform. It was halfway up the building on the 4th floor. Woojin stuck his head out over the tracks. A strong breeze blew through his hair. Peering down, he could see the city bellow, through a rusty metal framework. The tram tracks were attached to nothing but the platform edges.

As Woojin glanced left then right along the tracks, he saw it ended only a mile in either direction. After it was nothing but air. His brows furrowed in confusion before he looked up and saw the explanation. Above him was another set of tracks hidden in a protective casing. The thick metal tracks, along with a tangle of wires, were contained inside a glossy white box lined with strips of neon blue lights. It went on for miles and miles into the air, through the city and further than the eye could see.

While he peered down the tracks, he saw a sleek white and blue carriage seamlessly slide into the platform towards him. It hung from the overhead tracks, hovering over the magnetic ones underneath. The single tram carriage, also lined with neon blue, was at least 10 meters long. Along its top half was a row of long windows which revealed its crowded interior.

Without a sound it stopped directly in front of them. A small circular light above them lit red. It beeped like an underwater sonar as it scanned them, then flashed green. The doors of the carriage slid open. From it about 20 people exited.

They hastily pushed past the boys nearly knocking Woojin down like he was a fish swimming upstream. The two forced their way in and the doors shut behind them. They sat wherever they chose, opposite each other, right in the centre of the two rows of inward facing chairs. It was always packed on the way into the City but on the way out it was thankfully almost always empty.

Onto the windows at both ends of the rectangular carriage, a screen blinked on. It showed them the time, date and speed the tram was travelling in, in pale blue pixels.

“Tram, show us the outside.” Minghan commanded.

The screens flickered off. Suddenly the whole carriage became transparent. Like emerging on the other side of a tunnel, natural light flooded Woojins senses. They were gliding under neon blue tracks, alongside eclipsing skyscrapers and colossal treetops. Spinning mascots and holographic signs passed by. He saw other trams floating down neon tracks, winding through buildings like rain drops on a network of spider webs.

From the outside the trams were still visible but inside its faint outline was barely there, glistening in the sun. Woojin lay back in his seat, headphones in. It was nothing like his mother had said. What was so dark and scary about this? There was nothing but open blue skies above. A white fluffy vapour trail was slowly painted across his vision by a tiny jet plane. Wherever it was going, it went with an air of ease.

Warm sun light rained down over them the same way it had done a year ago and the year before that. The humidity, the sound of the air conditioner, the cool glass pane pressed against his crown. It was a feeling of summer. As he gazed up he tried to calm his nerves.

“You didn’t have to come you know.” Woojin spoke out of the blue. It had been almost half an hour since either of them had spoken.

Although his eyes were still transfixed onto the sky, he imagined Minghan was probably looking at him now. He could feel his stare.

“I don’t need you to tell me that.”

Woojin looked over at him. Just as he suspected, the boy was smirking up at him. He was hunched over the edge of his seat, his elbows resting on splayed knees. His muscular figure was softened by the rays of sun light. Thin lashes became translucent each time the boy blinked.

Almost shaking his head in dismay, Minghan clicked his tongue,

“Hey, _you_ were the one who invited me here, remember? Stop acting like you regret it now. It’s annoying. Would I have agreed to come all the way here if I didn’t want to?”

Woojin scoffed,

“ _“_ _Annoying_ _”_? Who’s the one being “a _nnoying_ ” here, you punk? I was just being polite. Talk to your elders with some respect.”

He tried to kick the boys shin from across the carriage aisle. He missed. Offended, Minghan yelled,

“Hey! I’m sensitive there!”

The boy stood up. It was his turn to attack. There was a scuffle of feet. They began to laugh like school children as they simultaneously bombarded each other with kicks and jabs. Woojin squirmed further back into his seat, overpowered by the tall boy stood over him. Dodging the incoming attacks was impossible. He let out uncontrollably happy laughter. It was like they didn’t have a care in the world.

 

“Are you nervous?” Minghan asked, quietly catching his breath beside Woojin. The two were sat side by side, almost melting into their back rests.

“Not really.”

“Liar.”

Woojin turned his head ever so slightly to see him from under his cap. As their eyes met he came to realise that Minghan was more perceptive than he thought.

“Well… I mean, maybe. But right now, I don’t think I am.” He smiled to himself, “It doesn’t matter. You should have stayed at home with your family. Why did you come? You trying to get away from them already?”

“Haha yeah, something like that!” The boy joked, “But I’d say it takes me closer to a week to get sick of family. I really did come just because I wanted to.”

Minghan continued to talk about his bossy sisters and waking up at 5am every morning. Living on a farm was not an easy thing. They talked about their journey to the tram station that morning. How it had taken Woojin two separate trains to get there while Minghan travelled by shuttle. Once meeting halfway the boys continued North by tram. Despite having only been apart for a day it seemed they had a lot to talk about. Woojin wondered why that was.

 

Finally, the tram floated over familiar snow sprinkled rooftops. Tall skyscrapers had been replaced with concrete factory chimneys. The blue skies was now a murky orange. A flock of long necked cranes flew over the evening horizon in perfect V formation. They soared far away towards jagged black mountains that seemed to stretch on for miles. It was nice seeing such a sight again after such a long time.

Woojin spoke,

“Tram, rout update.”

The screens lit up showing them a map. On it, their location was flashing blue. Their arrival time, speed and altitude hovered next to the travelling dot. The two prepared their belongings and stood up. As if sensing their next move, handle bars automatically emerged from the ceiling of the carriage.

 

The station platform was completely empty compared to previous stops. Only an old man in a navy conductors hat, white gloves and high visibility vest was sweeping up with a broom. Each time he breathed he renewed the wispy puffs of air around him.The words _JILIN STATION,_ written uniformly across a dirty signboard, welcomed them as they walked out the station.

“So, now we wait?” Minghan asked pulling on a hoodie.

“Now we wait.”

 

The bus ride to the outskirts of town was short and bumpy. Forehead pressed against the cold window, Woojin looked out through dried water droplet stains, over the endless miles of barren frozen land. Nothing grew out there other than tufts of withering wild grass. Deep craters scarred the hardened cracked earth like it had been caught in an asteroid shower. _So ugly,_ Woojin thought. There was nothing remotely beautiful or happy about this place. He was already regretting returning here.

The bus pulled up onto a narrow road at the foot of a hill. Perched on it’s slope above them, was a sparse cluster of houses. Each house was identical, long but flat as if squashed down by overwhelming pressure. The once white buildings looked sad and insignificant against their looming bleak backdrop. Their slate tiled roofs that never caught sunlight, were dusted in powdery snow.

Woojin shuffled from one foot to the other. He let out one final absolute breath, as if he was about to dive off a cliff, and knocked on the door.

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Then the needle like rain stopped, and you arrived." - Crawl, Veltpunch
> 
> Oh also soft-serve pile of shit = poop emoji

Chapt 6

 

That morning Younghee had woken up uncharacteristically early. He crept down the dark hallway and silently slid open the bedroom door. It was truly a skill that had been developed over years of sneaking around dormitories. Holding his breath, he approached the sleeping lump of duvet.

 _Who the hell uses such a thick blanket during summer?_ He thought, grimacing. He felt stuffy just looking at it. Younghee raised his hands in the air and wiggled his little fingers. 3, 2, 1.

Fwoosh. He whipped the sheets right off the sleeping figure.

Nothing. The snoring oaf didn’t move. Younghee sulked, staring down at the half naked boy. His broad chest gently rose and fell. Dirty tissues and odd socks littered his mattress. Younghee sighed taking a hold of the boys nose. With no remorse, he squeezed and yanked up.

Chris flailed. His arms swung at his mattress as he was dragged up. Nasally groans escaped his throat. The dishevelled boy whacked Younghees arm away. He cracked open bloodshot eyes and squinted at the culprit in the dark. His hair defining gravity. Sat limply hunched over like a zombie, he held his throbbing nose.

“What are you doing?” he croaked.

Younghee threw him an irritated side glance as he went to open the curtains. Pale sun light flooded in. Like a snail, Chris retracted into his blanket bundle even further.

“You look like a pile of shit.” Younghee grumbled.

“Shut up, it’s too early for your insults… The soft serve kind?”

“Yeah.” he chuckled.

 

The two stood outside a tall, peach painted apartment building in the middle of a deserted courtyard. Surrounding them on all sides were tightly packed blocks of grimy high rise apartments. Mellow sun light barely cracked through the spaces between them. Bird songs filled the crisp quiet air, welcoming the new dawn. It was nearly 6am.

Looking up at the endless stacks of compact balcony railings, they saw clothes hanging out to dry from each one. Extractor fans stuck out nearly every window. Chris stood behind the other, dressed in shorts and a thick red hoodie. With his hood drawn tightly around his swollen face, he looked like a sausage, at least that was what Younghee had called him.

“Hey,” Chris called out, voice still gravelly from lack of use, “Why are you doing this? What’s wrong with waiting like Woojin said?”

Younghee spun around,

“You’re beginning to sound like Jiyoon or Four-eyes or Minghan. Those guys also worship the ground he walks on.”

“What? What are you talking about? No one worships Woojin, I can’t even imagine that.”

“Whatever. Just keep following me, Condom head.”

Chris looked down at the back of the rude boys fluffy head. His reddish brown hair bobbed up and down as he strut towards the buildings narrow door. Condom head contemplated saying what he wanted to before he bit the bullet and said it anyway,

“Hey, you and Woojin went to the same middle school didn’t you?”

Younghee didn’t reply for a while. Without turning back he spat out,

“So what?” and pushed one of the multiple door bells. It let out a tired, off pitch buzz.

“Nothing, I just figured you two would be close since you’ve known each other the longest out of all the band members but it’s the opposite. Sometimes you act like you hate him.”

“That’s not true.” He pressed the buzzer again, “I just think he gets his way too much, that’s all.”

Chris watched the boy as he struggled with the worn out, unresponsive box. No matter how many times he pressed the button, the small screen above it remained black.

“Well," Chris scratched the back of his neck, "Jiyoon and Four-eyes only lets him do what he wants because they think his work is up to their standards. Otherwise they’d scold him too.”

Younghee slammed the buzzer for the billionth time,

“I know that! So what? I get it already!” He yelled.

An uncomfortable silence settled over them. After a moment of tension, a fuzzy static noise interrupted the heavy atmosphere. An empty apartment room blinked onto the screen. A voice from somewhere within that apartment called out to them. Finally, after laboriously establishing communication, the two were buzzed into the building.

The boys made their way up steep, narrow, concrete stairs, no different from the ones found in parking lots. Whoever had designed this building clearly didn’t care for first impressions. The two exerted way too much physical energy climbing them for so early in the morning. Arriving at their destination in a cold sweat, they knocked on a dark teal door.

Through the thin wood they heard the pitter-patter of swift feet race towards them. The door handle clicked down. Slowly, it creaked open. No-one appeared.

“Mama?” a tiny voice called.

Younghee and Chris craned their necks down. Their eyes nearly bulged out their sockets. A chubby cheeked child stared up at them. His soft wispy hair stood up like cotton candy on his disproportionately big head.

Younghee knelt down on one knee,

“It’s not mama, It’s Younghee.” He pointed to himself with a wide grin.

The child whimpered, his huge glimmering eyes holding back tears. Younghee panicked. Without thinking, he immediately swooped the boy up in his arms. He held the small squishy child against his chest and gently bounced him up and down. A cheerful melody belted out his mouth.

“Almost heaven,

West Virginia,

Blue ridge mountains,

Shenandoah river...”

The child stopped his sobbing. His wide eyes just observed the curious singing uncle. Together they bobbed up and down to the delightful country rhythm,

“Life is old there,

older than the trees,

Younger than the mountains, growing like a breeze,

Country Roads, Take me home,

To the place, I belong,

West Virginia, Mountain Mamma,

Take me home, Country roads.”

Shortly after the door swung fully open. A man in his late 20's stood bewildered and slightly out of breath. He was half shaven with a toothbrush sticking out his foaming mouth. His shirt was buttoned incorrectly and his socks, mismatched.

“Taro! I told you to never answer the door to strangers! I'll do it! I’m so sorry.” He profusely apologised to the two awkward looking teens and reclaimed the boy. Although Chris and Younghee couldn’t see each others faces, they shared the same obvious thought, _There's no way_ _this is_ _Four-eyes’_ _s apartment…_ _right?_

 

***

The first thing Woojin had noticed that was different was the number of lines around her hooded eyes. There was more of them and they were deeper than when he last remembered. Or maybe it was just his imagination because other than that everything else seemed the same.

The bland beige walls were the same, the floral curtains and dated furniture was the same. Even the slight smell of mothballs was the same. His aunt and uncle lived in a vacuum where time had no effect seemingly. Dust covered faded black and white photos, framed up on the walls. Two little girls with identical bowl cut hair, grinned out at him.

Woojins Aunt shuffled around the coral tiled kitchen like a bee. Her thin navy blue shawl fluttered behind her. He watched her small, bony back go from cabinet to fridge to stove and back to the cabinet again. Everything she touched clattered as she prepared breakfast with a sense of urgency.

“You don’t have to make anything for us.” Woojin hovered on the edge of his chair, an empty glass of milk already in his hand. He and Minghan were sat around a small square table in the tiny kitchen. On it was a box of tissues, an open carton of milk and, a tray of empty bowls left by his uncle.

The woman spun around and slammed a stack of bowls down between them. The skin of her right hands was discoloured and shrivelled.

“Rice or cereal?” She asked coldly. Her stony expression accentuated her eye bags. Woojin decided it was best just to keep quiet for now. He replied curtly as he stood up to help,

“Cerea-”

“No!” She shrieked. Before he could even comprehend what had happened she had grabbed him by his arms and forced him back down onto his chair. It screeched against the floorboards under his weight. Bewildered he stared up at her. She quickly whipped back around towards the fridge.

“You, just sit there. I’ll get it.” her strained voice trembled.

An uncomfortable silence settled over the small room. Gradually the large pot on the stove began to bubble louder. Condensation ran down steamy windows. The smell of miso soup overpowered everything. She sighed as she turned the gas off.

“What time?” She asked.

The boys shared a puzzled look behind her back.

“What time did you two wake up?”

Woojin decided to tell her the truth,

“Around four hours ago. We’ve already had some eggs with rice.”

The woman paused before replying, tucking her short wavy hair behind an ear. Her pale arms looked so thin as if they would snap just by looking at them.

“Ah I see, that’s good.” She said quietly. “I’m sorry, I slept in this morning. I really wanted to make breakfast for you two. Forgive me Minghan. Woojin finally comes home and brings his friend over but I go and oversleep, I’m sorry.” She turned around to address him.

“N-no, not at all! You must have been tired and-” Minghan spluttered, leaping up from his chair for no reason whatsoever. Her solemn face softened a little.

“Woojin, be careful, your friend has gotten even handsomer since the last time I saw him.” She grinned. Poor Minghan denied it with every fibre of his being to hide his embarrassment but his bright red ears gave him away. He was blushing harder than a high school girl on valentines day.

His aunt now turned towards him,

“Did you get to see Uncle?” she handed Woojin a cereal box.

“No, he had already left.”

“That’s a shame. Make sure you wait till he gets back before you leave tomorrow.”

“Yes.”

Woojin stared down at the bottom of his clean porcelain bowl while she placed an array of left over side dishes onto the table. It was the same bowl he had used the first day he had arrived to this house. The inside was plain, glossy white but its out side was decorated with a ring of faded blue Ryukin goldfish. Each scale was delicately painted on in royal blue ink. Every brush stroke could be seen in their long flowing tails. They looked as though they were floating in air rather than swimming. The bowl was the only one of its kind belonging to them which hadn’t been chipped. A nauseating feeling began to well up in his stomach.

“Sorry, toilet.” He excused himself.

 

Woojin padded on his sock-covered tiptoes to save himself from the cold floor boards. He had to remind himself it would take time to readjust to this kind of “Summer”. On his way back Woojin heard a sound he hadn’t heard in what seemed like a lifetime. His body slowly came to a stop to listen. It sounded like his mother laughing. Her sweet melodious laughter came from beyond the thin walls of the kitchen. Woojin clutched a fist full of his trouser leg. Without a word he turned around, grabbed his coat from the banister and left.

 

It was cold but his fast pace kept him warm. Tears leaked from the outer corners of his eyes. They stung, probably from the cold. Frosted bushes whipped passed. One leg after another, he ran on for nearly a mile before realising he didn’t have any shoes on. The boy cursed himself for being so absent minded. He gradually stumbled to a weary limp. It was lucky that his feet were so numb from the cold otherwise they would be hurting badly. Not only that, he seemed to not mind where he was headed. He simply moved in whatever direction his legs took him.

As Woojin trudged along the long winding road, climbing further uphill, he saw the rest of the industrial town in the distance. Chain after chain of thick black smoke rose up and bled into the pale colourless sky. Everything in his sight was black and white. Black mountains, white sky, black rooftops, white snow, black smoke, white breaths. His mother had been right about this town, it was dead. Colourless. Ugly. He shoved his frozen hands deeper into his jacket pockets and continued on.

***

Icy pellets of rain began to spit down. Who knows how much time had passed. The boy was sat hugging his knees for warmth, crouched on a flat protruding rock, on the edge of the rocky black hilltop. Woojin had always been a little underweight but curled up, surrounded by a huge expanse of empty land, made him look even more small and insignificant.

 _I should go back. No one will come._ He thought to himself. It wasn’t like his mother would chase after him and pull him into her warm arms. No soft touches or gentle kisses. Not this time. He felt like such a pitiable guy, wishing for something so childish.

It began to rain harder. Woojin decided he had to find shelter. He didn’t want to. The thought of moving seemed like a monumental feat, much bigger than it actually was. Through the shattering rain he heard the sound of distant car tires thrashing down wet roads. The usually empty roads below him were now lit up with headlights. Everyone was returning from work. Was it _that_ late already? He slowly swayed as he got up.

Suddenly their was a clap of thunder. Woojin dropped back down. His hands shot up to his ears. Like a boiling kettle, the thunder rumbled through out the valley before exploding. A mixture of rain, mucus and tears trickled off his nose as he crouched down into a ball. Laughter began to escape from his lips. Knowing fully well that it was his own fault for leaving without checking the whether, or taking an umbrella, or telling his aunt, what else could he do but laugh? She was probably crying right now, wondering where he was.

Then the rain stopped. He couldn’t feel it any more. Woojin lifted his head up and there, stood above him, was Minghan. His jacket was held spread out over them like a parasol. Face dripping with rain, the boy beamed down at Woojin.

Wide-eyed, Woojin cried,

“What are you- When did you-? Why are you here?” He sobbed up to the sky.

“Mind if I sit?” Minghan asked.

Woojin just watched as the other dropped his back pack to the floor and sat down beside him. Without a word Minghan draped his already damp, heavy jacket over their heads. Rain drops trickled off its collars edge like it was the mouth of a cave. It was warm, no, _he_ was warm.

 

Together they waited for the rain to stop but that didn’t look like it would happen any time soon. Woojin suddenly had the urge to apologise to Minghan. From the beginning he had known he was in the wrong but he felt he had to do it now, while he had the courage to. Just as he went to open his mouth the boy spoke first,

“I can’t believe you would leave me with your Aunt like that! Do you know how _awkward_ it was? I nearly sang for her, she nearly made me _sing_ for her!”

Woojin couldn’t help but crack a smile at the image of that.

“Hey, why did you leave like that?” He asked.

Woojin sighed at the inevitable question, “Was she mad? Did she get upset?”

“No.”

“No?” He asked dumbfounded.

“She said you used to do this a lot when you were a kid. Oh, but she did look a little sad even though she tried not to show it.”

Fantastic, that made him feel a thousand times worse. Sighing, Woojin slammed his head into the others shoulder. It earned him a dirty look.

“Minghan. I can’t do it. Even though I want to apologise to her, for always running away… and for not visiting till now, I can’t. I really fucking suck don’t I?”

The other didn’t reply.

“I get it. She loves me no matter what, and she’s an adult so she’ll forgive me even if I mess up or hurt her. She’ll hug me and say ‘ _It’s alright. I knew all along._ _I_ _t’s going to be okay.’_ but that just makes me feel even worse because it’s not okay. All I’ve done since my mum-”

Minghan finally spoke, “Oh, this about your mum?”

Woojin bolted up and froze wide eyed. Without realising it, he had said too much.

“Your aunt already told me a bit about her. Apparently the two of them grew up here, right? They looked similar too. From the photos I can see why people thought they were twins. Oh, is that why you keep running away from her, because she reminds you of your mum?” He turned to look Woojin in the eyes as if saying, _I’m right, aren’t I?_

“But I think now, you look more like your mum than she does. I saw your parents wedding photo on the wall. Your mum got married pretty young huh? You have her smile. You probably remind your Aunt of her way more than she reminds you.”

Woojin felt sick again. It quickly turned into anger. So what if he did? So what if he and his aunt looked like her or sounded like her?  _She_ was dead so why was she causing him so much trouble now?

“You’ve got it wrong.” Woojin said, “The reason I don’t want to see my Aunt isn’t because of anything like that. It’s obvious we’re both like my mum. It’s called genetics.” He scoffed.

“Huh? Really!? O-oops, my bad. I guess I don’t know you as well as I think!” Minghan chuckled trying to cover up his embarrassment.

Woojin sighed,

“My Aunts great and everything but when I'm with her I don’t know what she’s thinking. She lies, she’s always lied. In the past I couldn’t forgive her for it and even now, it makes saying sorry so hard. She says she’s fine when I know she still has trouble sleeping because of her PTSD. And she’s always been against me being a singer so seeing me now must be hard for her. But even so, she just pretends every thing’s okay. Whatever her reasons are, I just can’t understand that way of thinking. Covering your eyes and ears to the world doesn’t help anyone. Why can’t she understand that? That’s why I can’t bring myself to apologise to her! Just being around her is hard for me! How can two people who are supposed to understand each other the most be like that huh? It honestly pisses me off. I wish I could just read her mind and be done with it. I have other things to worry about, like Four-eyes!”

There was another burst of thunder. The two huddled closer together.

“We’re definitely going to catch a cold after this.” Woojin mumbled wiping his runny nose.

“Woojin,” Minghan held onto his thin wrist and pulled him up, “Your mum is the reason you started singing right? If that’s the case then I think it’s okay to keep doing it. You don't need to apologise to anyone for that. You and your aunt have a lot to work out but I think whatever it is you feel towards her, you should stop blaming yourself. Whether you find a way to forgive her or not, or whether you're ever able to trust her or not, she'll understand. So just take your time. Having fall-outs like this is just normal family stuff. In the end you two are just doing what you can for the other.”

As they walked back through the sheets of pouring rain, Woojin stared at the back a few steps in front of him. It looked so strong and dependable. With a small grin he thought to himself,

_I don’t need you to tell me that!_

Slipping on wet mud and rocks, they began their struggle down the hill.

 

Barely making any progress, the two decided to take shelter inside a small road side shrine. The three sided structure, made of pale weathered wood, had a protruding roof which they stood under. It sheltered a smaller wooden house belonging to a little stone fox. At the statues feet were a few oranges, some coins and, burned out sticks of incense. Paper windmills had been propped up by piles of smooth stones.

The place was overgrown with weeds and seemed out of place, alone on the narrow footpath. Woojin furrowed his eyebrows. He was certain the only shrine in town was the one by the bus stop near his house. He had never seen this one before. Could he have completely forgotten about it?

Regardless they stood inside. Any shelter was welcome at this point. They looked out, past the town, at the acres of deformed land. Minghan began to rummage through his bag. Woojin watched him with anxious eyes. The next thing he knew a camera was pointed right in his face.

Woojin shook his head in disbelief, “You brought my camera!?”

Still recording him Minghan answered casually,

“Yeah, I didn’t think it would rain.” He panned the camera around, from Woojins sour frown to the view across the valley and onto the black mountain range.

“We leave early tomorrow so we should make the most of our time now.” he explained.

“Right, that’s why I’m asking you, why did you bring it? There’s nothing worth filming here.”

“The mountains look pretty cool. This place looks like the edge of the world.”

Woojin began to laugh,

“No way, this whole place is ugly. You see that,” He pointed out towards the crater riddled land, “I used to walk through those big-ass craters everyday to get to school. Sometimes there would be other kids biking or skateboarding down them. Want to know how they were made?”

Minghan thought for a bit,

“Hm, I think I can guess, Nukes right?”

“Ding ding ding! Bingo!” He shot finger guns at the other, “From the fifth war. That’s why my mum hated it here. The view reminded her of my dad. Oh, and what’s worse is, that place was also used as a testing ground for the explosives made here which is ironic. The same factories this town depended on were also the ones destroying it. Sad isn’t it?”

Minghan didn’t need to say anything. The look on his face was enough. Woojin, unable to control himself, snorted at his troubled expression,

“Don’t worry, don’t worry! Around ten-fifteen years ago they changed that. Now, they’re only allowed to fire beyond the mountains. Although most of the time, the nukes fall short and miss. That’s why they’re so jagged-y like that, half the mountain range has been destroyed and land slides happen all the time. Even the forest around the base of the mountains has been blocked off. I tried going up there once but it was: Access denied.” He crossed his arms into an “X”. “There’s a giant, see-through wall all the way around.”

Minghan zoomed in on the army of charred, skeletal trees marching up the mountains. The sky rumbled, reverberating through it's branches. A crack of lightning lit up the entire night sky. Rather than getting further away the storm brewed closer.

“We should get back or we’ll be stuck here all night.” He said peering up out of the shrine.

Woojin agreed.

While Minghan slung his soaked backpack on, Woojin stuffed the camera under his t-shirt. Even though everything was pretty drenched by then, he had no choice but to try and rescue it. Suddenly panic hit him. He leapt out of his skin. His heart nearly burst. Thunder boomed overhead like a million galloping horses racing towards him. The bone rattling sound shook him to the core. Something was coming. It closed in on him. Fast. He forced himself to look. Inch by inch, he turned his head around. A blinding flash split the sky in two. Lightning bolted down towards earth. Woojin didn’t even have the chance to blink. It bolted towards him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how was it?
> 
> Whats good guys? Have you been well?  
> Ever heard of a manga called Nabari no Ou?  
> It's one of my faves. It had an anime too and in one of the openings there's this line in the song [Crawl - Veltpunch] which gets to me.  
> It roughly translates to:  
> "Then the needle like rain stopped, and you arrived." or "You came, and the needle like rain stopped."  
> Basically, as I was writing a certain part of this chapter it reminded me of that line!  
> So you could say, without meaning to be, I was inspired by this song! (۶•̀ᴗ•́)۶
> 
> Anyways I also used the song lyrics of good old John Denver's Country Roads because it's something you could just yell and everyone would join in! I love it so much!!  
> SO, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. The adventure FINALLY about to begin yall!  
> ۶ಥ‿ಥ۶
> 
> Next chapter spoiler: It's out of this world ಥ‿ಥ


	7. Chapter 7

Chapt 7

 

Opening his eyes, he squinted, his vision blurry from the blinding light. He raised a hand above his face. Streaks of white light sifted through his pale fingers. Woojin seemed to be laying on his back. Nothing hurt but he couldn’t move. He couldn’t feel anything. His arm was frozen, suspended in air. It scared him. If he could, he would have screamed or felt his heart pounding through his chest or the sweat budding up on his upper lip.

Then he heard a voice. It was scattered at first but each word seemed to collect just before reaching his ears.

“Oh, you’re awake?”

Her voice was sweet and high pitched like a bird song. It came from somewhere beside him. Suddenly Woojins arm dropped to his side. He could move. Once his sight had somewhat adjusted he sat up. He blinked a few times. He seemed to be standing in the middle of a white, bone dry, sea bed. Everywhere he looked was cracked salt flats. Tiny grains of clear crystals lined the vast empty land.

A dense layer of heavy rain clouds hung low above him, like a giant ceiling. Softly glowing, everything appeared to be cloaked in a foggy white light. Woojin turned his head towards the voice.

Stood a few meters away appeared to be a girl. Not Minghan but a young woman. She was the only thing that seemed real, not washed out by light, as if they were the only ones looking out from under a veil. Her face was covered by a sheet of paper attached to her forehead. On it was large black scribbles, the characters for “Student A”. Her long black hair reached her bare white feet. Woojin noticed that from her fingers and toes grew long chipped nails.

As she tilted her head, looking at him like he was some kind of abstract art piece, something glimmered behind her. Woojin squinted harder to see it was an iridescent mandala. Each geometric pattern spiralled within another like cogs. Watching the halo like patterns spin behind her head was hypnotising. She stepped towards him. Layers of long pearly robes floated around her legs. Gravity didn’t seem to work properly in this strange realm.

“Hello, Woojin.” She sang.

“Oh, hello. Nice to meet you.” He bowed, greeting her formally.

He didn’t want to think about how she knew his name. That would just lead him to question everything else that was happening right at that moment, and if he did that he would get a head ache for sure.

“Um… you are…?” The boy asked timidly.

“Pfft you don’t know who I am? That’s rude since I’ve been waiting here for you for ages. But fine, whatever, just call me Student A.”

 _Student A? Like in a_ _school_ _production? No way, that’s not a name,_ Woojin thought. The girl giggled to herself and went on,

“Okay then how about… White rabbit?” The black ink on her paper veil sifted into a cute rabbit face.

_No, that’s weird. Are you a candy brand?_

“Ugh, never mind! It doesn’t matter what you call me!” She suddenly snapped as if she could read his mind, “Since this place belongs to you, call me whatever you want!”

Woojin blinked in shock. It was his turn to tilt his head in confusion. Finally he spoke, ears slightly red,

“Sorry. T-then how about I call you Lotti?”

It was the name of his favourite singer. The girl kept quiet like she was contemplating saying something but she didn’t. Instead she shot out a big thumbs up.

“Whatever you say boss! So, anyway, let’s get this back on track. Rae Woojin, I’m here to grant you your wish!”

 

 

 _Use your head Rae Woojin!_ The poor boy commanded himself. If she had really wanted to hurt him she would have done so already, at least that was what he chose to believe. This strange ghost lady was making him an impossible offer but there was no way she was bluffing. That much was obvious. She had already somehow whisked him away to some place where Minghan wasn’t there.

“No thanks. Whatever you’re selling I don’t want it. Take me back.” He smiled awkwardly, giving up on formalities.

The girl let out a curt giggle,

“You don’t want it? Don’t lie like that otherwise you’ll grow up ugly! Also, look around you, idiot! You’re already home!”

The soft white light shattered into dust. A whirl wind scattered the fog. She had stripped off the veil from over his eyes. As Woojin let her words sink in, he slowly turned his head out onto a snow covered valley. A chilling breeze howled through his hair. He was no longer on the salt flats.

The town of JI LIN lay below them under a murky purple sky but it wasn’t his town. Something was wrong. The buildings were destroyed, layered in thick snow and rubble. Half the factory chimneys had collapsed and smoke no longer rose to the sky. Telephone wires dangled listlessly across slabs of split roads that stuck up like capsized ships. The windows had no glass, only toothy shards. She was lying, this wasn’t his home. Where was his Aunt and Minghan? Where had everyone gone? It was just the hollow shell of a town disappearing into snow.

He stood on the now white hilltop where he and Minghan had been moments ago. The shrine was still there but barely. All that remained of it was the stone fox on its pedestal. A thick layer of snow sat on its snout. Its tall pointed ears had been chipped away and there was no longer any offerings at its feet other than a single paper windmill, spinning in the wind.

“What’s wrong?” The girl asked, “You don’t recognise it? But this is your home Woojin, this is your real home. The other place you left behind, where Minghan is, that place is a lie. It doesn’t really exist. Are you following me? That place isn’t your reality.”

“My… reality?” Woojin repeated the words as if they were in a foreign language. Slow breaths made long ghostly puffs. He stared out to where his town used to be, then back to her. After a while he lay down in the snow, closed his eyes and went to sleep.

“HEY! WAKE UP! I’m serious here! I’m letting you see your truth!”

“Just what exactly do you mean by _“My truth”_?” Woojin sat up, popping out from his trench, “I don’t care about any of that. Just take me back to... wherever I was.”

The corners of the girls mouth peaked out from behind her paper mask as she grinned,

“You don’t care about the truth? Isn’t that the one thing you want the most? All these years of people deceiving you has left you lonely and spiteful, hasn’t it? Your own mother lied to you for all those years and you were a naive idiot for believing her. Surely you don’t want that to happen again. You, who cant even trust your own family. You, who is full of doubt and bitterness. It must be painful living like that. Don’t try and deny it. I’ve lived inside your heart for all these years, Woojin, I can read you like an open book. See, it’s easy for me and it would be for you too if you just accept my offer.”

He twitched.

“Shut up.”

But she continued with an air of excitement,

“Hey, that lens you found, you know what it does don’t you? You know what it can show you, right?”

He did.

“So then why don’t you let me put it in your heart huh? I can make it so that you can do all that without having to use a camera? I can make it so that you can understand other peoples hearts. You’ll be able to read their minds. It’s what you’ve always wanted.”

He stared over head at her. The bags under his eyes growing darker by the second. He felt lethargic as if she had sucked all the energy out of him. Through steady breaths he murmured,

“Is that all you have to say? You’re done now right? Then take me back home.”

“RAE WOOJIN,” her voice split his ears. It pierced through every neuron of his brain. He stumbled back from the force. Hot liquid trickled from his nose. It was blood. The girl rose high above him, her robes and hair thrashed around with the ferocity of a hurricane. From behind her mask she muttered,

_“_ _Y_ _our world will become a thing of deceit, painted all in white_ _.”_

Suddenly dozens of skeletal arms burst out from her back. They grabbed him and smashed him into the ground. A wave of snow flew around him from the impact. Rock shattered underneath. It was broken, his back was definitely broken. Pinned to the cold hard ground, Woojin felt tiny stones piece his skin. His lungs burned. He couldn’t breath. A high pitched ringing filled his ears. His screams wouldn’t leave his mouth.

Suddenly the ground gave way from beneath him. His stomach lurched. Woojin plummeted. Blackness closed in around him. The sky grew further away. Desperately he reached up. It hurt. His whole body was crying out in pain but no one heard him. As he fell he could only think of one thing,

_“I want_ _go back, I want to_ _go_ _back_ _home_ _.”_

His vision faded to black.

 

Woojin snapped his eyes open. His pulse pounded through his veins. Numb finger-tips clung onto whatever they could. The first thing he felt was cold sweat dripping down his face. No, it wasn’t sweat, it was rain. He was moving through the rain. He looked down to see Minghans shoulder. The boy was carrying him on his back. They were both soaked but Woojins front, pressed up against the other, was warm.

“Woojin!? Are you awake? Woojin!?” The boy cried, “Fuck, I thought you died!”

Woojin wanted to laugh at him but he understood exactly how Minghan felt. He quietly listened to the others racing pulse beating against his ear.

“Please, a little lightning isn’t enough to kill me.” He mumbled, his face pressed into Minghans warm neck.

“Are you crying?”

“No.” Woojin lied holding on a little tighter.

 

Minghan had many bad points but one that Woojin actually admired was that the boy was as stubborn as an Ox.

“There’s no god damn phone reception up here so I’m taking you to the hospital myself.” He declared crawling down the hillside with Woojin hanging off his back for dear life.

“No way. It’s scary when you say dumb things like that so seriously. Put me down, I’m fine.”

But of course Minghan didn’t listen. Incredibly, the boys stubbornness had gotten them both to as far as Woojins house.

A hot bath awaited them upon their return. Woojins Aunt stripped them both on the spot and rushed them into their large wooden bathtub. Refusing to hear a single word of an explanation, she shooed them away into the steam. This worked in Woojins favour. He didn’t want to worry his aunt further by telling her what had happened and he felt well enough to put off a precautionary hospital check till next morning. In fact he felt better than fine. No broken bones or burnt skin. It was like none of it had ever happened. _There_ _are_ _n’t any more buses into town anywa_ _y,_ He thought to himself.

The heat had no effect against their numb skin. Wallowing nose deep in hot water, Woojin blew bubbles with his mouth. He noticed Minghan watching him a little too closely.

“What?” he asked, red faced from the humidity.

“N-nothing.” Minghan quickly turned away.

Woojin blew more bubbles as he watched the uncomfortable boy. Slowly he waded towards him.

“Minghan.”

“W-what?”

“Minghan.”

“What?”

“Ming-”

“What!?”

They were barely inches apart. Woojin saw the other swallow. His tanned neck was coated with a gleaming layer of water. _Not good_ , he thought and stood up to leave.

“Wait!” Minghan grabbed his wrist.

Without thinking Woojin swatted his hand away, a bewildered look painted across his face. His heart was racing. He could see Minghan was taken back. The boy was struggling to continue like nothing had happened but it was obvious from his strange expression and stutter that Woojin had probably hurt him,

“Y-your chest. What is that?” His eyes flit around the room, glancing everywhere that wasn’t Woojin.

Woojin looked down. On his pale skin, in the centre of his chest, was a pink scar. He stared at it blankly. It looked like a stab wound, but he had never been stabbed... had he? He mentally smacked himself for thinking such an absurd thing, of course he hadn’t.

“Was it from your camera? It must have conducted the lightning bolt and burned you there.” Minghan impressed him yet again with his straight forward reasoning. He was wrong but still impressive.

Woojin sat back down in the tub with a splash. He submerged his whole head in the water and shot out again, like an inflatable ball. A wave of water sprayed all over Minghan as he burst out. Woojin laughed but the drenched boy didn’t look impressed. Finally Woojin settled down and told him what had happened,

“Earlier I got kidnapped by a witch. This is the curse she put on me. So, how does that sound? Do you believe me?”

 

As he slid out the bathroom door, wrapped in a long fluffy towel, Woojin bumped into his aunt. She handed him a pile of neatly folded clothes that smelled of mothballs. On top of it was a tube of disinfectant, bandages and plasters. He was suddenly reminded of his poor swollen feet.

The three of them ate around the kitchen table in silence. Soft ticking surrounded them. Condensation dripped off the windows.

“Woojin,” His aunt began.

“Yes?”

“...Eat well okay?” She smiled deepening the wrinkles around her eyes.

Woojin looked down at his steaming bowl of food. The heat wafted up and brushed against his freshly showered, raw skin. Out of nowhere, his vision began to blur. He felt burning hot tears fall from his eyes. When was the last time he had eaten his aunts cooking? He couldn’t remember but it tasted good.

“Oh baby, why are you crying? No no, don’t cry!” She wasted no time standing up and enveloped him in a big hug. It was warm. His head pressed against her soft cushiony stomach felt warm. Soft white clouds rolled up around them. He closed his eyes as the summer sky flourished around them.

“Oh, my idiot son!” She laughed. “Don’t cry! Aunty’s alright! Aunty’s not upset! It’s alright as long as you come back. You came back didn’t you? So don’t cry! Everything’s alright.”

Just as he thought, she didn’t mind that his tears were soaking her clothes, she would always forgive him. Her rosy cheeks, still beaming, let out the most beautiful sound he had heard as she laughed away.

 

***

 

Woojin wanted to punch himself right in the face. All he had done on his trip home was cry. He squinted out of puffy swollen eyes. Although it hadn’t been the relaxing trip he was hoping for, he had managed to somewhat clear his head of doubt and reconcile with his Aunt. Just before leaving that morning he promised to call her at least once a month.

Up the road, at the top of a small hill, poked a familiar white building. Green leaves rustled over the tall corrugated metal gates in front of their dorm. A stupid amount of happiness washed over him. It was then that he swore he’d never leave this house again. His bed must have miss him as much as he missed it.

As Woojin and Minghan made their way towards home they noticed a man stood out side, under a poster plastered lamp post. Black hair and scruffy clothes, slouched against the lamp, it must have been Seunghyun. As they got closer they noticed smoke rising from his hand.

Minghan yelled making Woojin jump,

“What the fuck are you doing?”

Before he knew what was happening Minghan had shot off. The boy was a blur as he raced up the rest of the hill towards Seunghyun. Woojin did his best to catch up. Hobbling under the weight of his back pack, he heard Minghans harsh voice shout,

“Just what the hell are you doing? Explain yourself properly! Right now! TELL ME!” He grabbed Seunghyun by the collar. The black haired boy looked pretty unphazed, his head hung back lethargically. Seunghyun did not push him away, he simply glared back. Narrow dangerous eyes clashed with Minghans. Sparks flew.

Woojin panicked. Never before had Minghan defied their leader. He blinked. Black smoke bled into red. Red into black. Seunghyuns silent hatred clashed with Minghans burning anger.

He had no other choice, Woojin grabbed Minghans arm. His wrist was hilariously pale and narrow compared to the others. His other hand snatched the cigarette from between Seunghyuns fingers. Woojin threw it to the ground and crushed it under his shoe like killing a bug. The two boys turned to him, questioning his involvement but he held onto Minghans arm with a tight grip. Foot firmly planted on the cigarette, Woojin opened his mouth to say something. They watched intently. He took a deep breath in.

“W-wait a minute, cant we just do this tomorrow. Let me catch my breath.” A long heavy wheeze left his mouth. Panting, Woojin hung off of Minghan’s arm, nearly crumbling to his knees. The boy was sweating oceans. Climbing up the hill had already defeated him. He cursed his lack of physical endurance.

The other two looked down at him with pity. Minghan suddenly let go of Seunghyuns t-shirt. He shook Woojin off, gave their leader one final dirty look and left. Without a word Woojin followed him through the one-man door cut into the side of the corrugated gates. It clanged shut behind them. Seunghyun hadn’t followed.

 

Before making any rash decisions the boys immediately called for the person who they knew would have the answers: Jiyoon. Jiyoon and Seunghyun were the two founding pillars of the group. They had joined the company at the same time long before the rest of the members. Although the two had drifted apart over the years it was clear an unspoken bond still remained.

The phone rang throughout the living room as Minghan paced up and down. The other curious members gathering around him. Upon entering, they had found Star boy already sprawled across the floor with flashing LED headphones on. A lolly-pop stuck out his mouth. One hand down his pants and the other flicking through a comic book, it was a familiar scene. Seeing the commotion he sat up, yellow aviators gleaming, and asked with expression alone what was wrong.

"It's Seunghyun." Minghan stated as if it was a good enough explanation. However all his answer merited him was another blank stare.

"What what? What about him? Wasn’t he just outside?"

"You knew?!" He blew up, "Then why didn’t you do anything?! The guy was right in front of our apartment smoking in plain sight! Why didn’t you stop him?"

As Hiro and Chris tried to douse the fuming boy Jiyoon suddenly picked up. Minghan told him the situation. Through the fuzzy line the boys heard nothing but a heavy sigh, the sound of him brushing off his shorts and the click of a door latch.

“Don’t bother with anything. I’ll be there in 10 minutes.”

 

Without a seconds hesitation the herd of overly enthusiastic guys scrambled and slid across the landing, into Chris and Starboy’s room. Like falling domino's they toppled over each other through glass double doors and onto the tiny veranda. With strained necks and shaky tiptoes they waited to see what would happen outside. What would Jiyoon say when he saw his leader in such a state? More importantly how would their leader explain himself?

It was still warm outside. Woojin, being his lazy self, couldn't see much from behind the wall of curious boys nor did he attempt to. In fact none of them could make out much of anything thanks to the patchy screen of leaves from the front courtyard. Some distant voices and fragmented shapes moved behind them. Flashes of the boys hair or clothes peaked through but that was all. Woojin soon lost interest. The sun was starting to set and the sky had turned orange. He began to gaze at fluttering insects swarming the flickering street light.

Suddenly the front door beeped open. They were back. The members scuttled back into the living room. There, a clearly agitated Seunghyun was waiting. His dark brooding expression wasn’t lost on them. The boy finally spoke after waiting for all the members to take a seat. They looked up like school children from the couch or floor, nervous eyes fixed on him. He heaved a heavy sigh. The faint smell of cigarettes diffused into the air. His fingers ran through his hair. With a low croaky voice their leader spoke,

"Kids, something bad has happened." he didn’t look a single member in the eye, “Four-eyes has officially been reported as a missing person. Her shoe was found this morning by the restaurant they had taken us to.”

After a short lived pause the room erupted into confused disbelief. Each member trying to talk over the rest. Only two members remained silent. Minghan and Woojin sat staring at the floor. Woojin bit his lower lip. It suddenly became difficult to concentrate on the rest of the conversation.

Confusion soon led to frustration and anger. Wild accusations were thrown around until Seunghyung regained their attention. He spoke slowly and clearly,

“There are strict orders not to look into this. Do not do anything unnecessary. No matter how much Four-eyes means to us, we leave this alone. The police are investigating and if they happen to stumble across any of you during their investigation then the company wont help you. Get it? Don’t worry, they’ll find her. They’ll definitely find her.”

“ _Probably. But who am I kidding?_ _I just hope she’s not dead yet._ _”_ Woojin heard a small voice say.

Seunghyun was lying.

 

  


 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo!   
> So things are finally happening in this chapter and it gets a little trippy. But hopefully it wasn't so weird that you couldn't follow it.  
> That line Lotti says "Your world will become a thing of deceit, painted all in white." was from a Naruto opening. Yes a goddamn NARUTO op. [Haruka Kanata by Asian Kung Fu Generation]  
> They're like my fave band tbh.  
> Anyways i hope you enjoyed like always. see you next time!   
> ಥ‿ಥ


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! whats up?  
> It's been way too long right? My bad...  
> This chapter was meant to make things a little clearer but honestly it just ended up short and angsty.  
> I really tried to make this happier but everything i write turns into emo crap.  
> Ah well, here you go.  
> I hope you like it!  
> ಥ‿ಥ

Chapt 8

 

Woojin let out an explosive sneeze. A week had passed since Four-eyes had gone missing. Surprisingly things were more normal than ever. Their managers role was easily taken over by other various managers and their busy routines had returned to full throttle. The members who attended uni began their new semester like usual. The sky was still blue and everyday was still hot.

Woojin looked out the 6th floor window through his camera lens. Luckily it hadn’t taken long to get repaired. Through it, he saw his university campus. Students sat at cafe tables chatting with friends in the summer sun. A cyclist weaved through streams of busy people. Everything was painfully normal. It was as if nothing had changed.

Minghan was sat cross legged a few seats away from him, quietly strumming his guitar. Their lecturer who didn’t seem to give any fucks, continued to drivel on about media communication or something. All the while the students spoke over him like he was yesterdays reruns of an old TV show. For some reason the weather seemed to be a big topic that morning which was odd since they had been living in an unending summer for years.

Woojin glanced up at his friend. Since returning from their trip to his Aunts, neither had really talked to the other properly. On their way back it had been hours of tired heavy silence. Woojin couldn’t blame him for the awkwardness. Too many unexplained things had happened between them like that drunken night, the sudden lightning bolt and the awkward bath after. Not to mention the fact that all Woojin seemed to be willing to talk about was this nonsense involving a lens. He really had to hand it to himself, he was good at avoiding the important things. But he couldn’t continue to hide from Minghan much longer.

As their two hour lecture came to an end, the class began to ambled out leaving only them and Younghee in the lecture room. In the newly found peace Minghan began messing around with his guitar. He shot out bursts of short playful guitar riffs in between rapping stupid rhymes he made up on the spot, silly things that made no sense or sounded terrible. Even so, as he played, Woojin found himself liking the quirky sound.

“I woke up late this morning and accidentally stepped in shit!

Everyday life is hard!

Mum, no one will buy food for me,

got no cash, got no card!”

It really sounded so bad but soon both Woojin and Younghee were laughing. Minghan threw the beat to Younghee who joined in seamlessly,

“No card, no money,

student life sucks!

Living off bread and honey,

Tuition costs too much!

All I wanna do is sleep! Sleep! Sleep!!”

Without realising it the boys had attracted a few curious listeners. A small group of students had stayed behind to listen. Some gathered around their desk, others listened in from the doorway. They laughed at the boys playful antics. One even began adding in a beat of his own, tapping the edge of a desk with his drum sticks.

“Hey, everyone be quiet! I wanna hear Woojin sing! His voice is so unique!” A girl claimed over the rest.

Someone quickly called back,

“Doesn’t it sound better because we never hear him speak? Woojin you’re the shy kind aren’t you!”

“Right, right! Thinking about it, I don’t think I’ve ever heard his voice before! It’s so smooth!”

Woojin sat uncomfortably still in his chair, his scrawny body hidden from their sight behind Minghan. With his gaze cast down at the camera in his lap, he tried to smile while blocking out their incessant thoughts,

“ _She’s only_ _saying that_ _because she wants to fuck him_ _though.._ _.”_

_“It’s true, he really doesn’t talk to anyone at all._ _Even now_ _,_ _God just_ _s_ _ay something already.”_

_“_ _He looks like he’s gonna cry_ _even though we_ _were_ _complimenting him_ _. Lol.”_

_“_ _Isn’t he supposed to be famous or something? Then why is he so shy?_ _Is he okay_ _?”_

_“_ _Poor_ _Woojin,_ _he looks so uncomfortable. I_ _know the feeling_ _. Hang in there.”_

_“_ _Woojin?_ _He was in our class?_ _”_

It was annoying but he didn’t know how to turn it off. Since that stormy night there were moments where it was like he was looking at everyone through that lens. Suddenly Woojin heard a stern voice,

“Are you guys admitting to have never listened to our album? Wow that’s mean! We worked hard on that! If you want to hear his voice that badly then just listen to it already!”

Everyone turned their attention to Younghee. The boy looked like an angry hamster, pouting with puffy cheeks. Amused, the others poked fun of his shameless self promo. Younghee swiftly leapt over tables and chairs to the front of the lecture theatre and stood on the stage. Onto the chalk board, he wrote in thick white block letters, YOUNGHEE vs WOOJIN. With a gleam in his eyes he pointed up to Minghan,

“You, play our title track! Woojin, you sit there and listen, it’ll be your turn next! Lets give them a live teaser of our album!”

Woojin turned to Minghan for an explanation. The boy hadn’t looked his way once. Eyes locked onto his guitar strings, Minghan remained quiet. Woojin began to sweat. Was he being ignored?

“N-no way guys. I’m not… no way.”

Suddenly Minghan began to play. A chorus of whispers began brewing. From the onlookers came a few intrigued, “No way!”s. There was an air of excitement as some sat down to listen.

A familiar tune took over the room and Younghee began to sing.

His voice was versatile and sturdy. It was obvious why he was their main vocalist. At times, intense moments would bring out a roughness in his vocals that Woojin liked. Younghee really was idol material. Confident, charismatic and attractive, he had worked hard to get to where he was. Bathed in rich royal blue smoke, the boy captivated the audience.

As he listened, Woojin looked around. All eyes were definitely on the stage but something felt off. Within his mind he could hear unwanted thoughts again. Their voices talked over the song.

“ _He’s such a show off.”_

_“His voice isn’t unique at all. Boring.”_

_“_ _Such an attention whore. Lol. Keep working hard Younghee!”_

Like scribbling all over a beautiful painting with marker pen, their voices trampled over and blocked out his sound. It was suddenly very hot. Woojin pulled at his t-shirts collar. He couldn’t feel his fingertips. As he abruptly stood up his knees felt weak. Everything was spinning. Breathing was hard. He needed to get out of there. Just as he had reached the stairway in between the rows of seats leading up to the exit, he paused.

He heard a single voice above the rest. It was Younghees,

_“_ _You better be watching._ _I’ll show you,_ _Rae_ _Woojin. Keep watching. I wont lose to you.”_

Woojin pivoted 180° on his heel. Instead of walking towards the door he stumbled down towards the stage. He couldn’t see properly but that didn’t matter. Once on the stage he would sing whatever Minghan planned to play next. Younghee was challenging him. There was no way he wouldn’t respond.

The two boys were the same age, they had gone to the same middle school and high school, they had been scouted at the same time and now both held vocal positions in the same band. How could Woojin back down now?

He hobbled up the two steps onto the stage. Beads of sweat dripped off his chin. His clothes and hair clung to him. Why was it so hot? After Younghee had finished Woojin took his place, centre stage. The other sat front row. A hush fell over them. All eyes were now on him. Minghan began to play a new tune. Woojin took a deep breath in. A wide grin grew across his face.

“Younghee, I’m the one who won’t lose to you! Bring it on you son of a bitch!”

He pointed right at him. Suddenly his knees gave way. Everything was spiralling out of control. The world had flipped upside down around him. Woojin didn’t have a clue what was happening any more. Was Minghan still playing? Was Younghee still watching him with that stunned look? It was too hot, why wasn’t the AC working?

 

***

 

“Hey, wake up.” A high pitched voice chirped.

Woojin blinked. He was back on the Salt flats again but instead of feeling the gravelly crystals crunch under his bare feet, he felt cold water. Bathed in dazzling white light, Woojin stood facing the black haired girl in his pyjama shorts and t-shirt. They seemed to be the only ones in the middle of a huge expanse of flooded land. Acting as a giant mirror, the waters surface perfectly reflected the cold glassy sky above. A sickly weak sun floated over their heads. Like two islands floating in the middle of the ocean, they stood meters apart.

“I’m back here again?” Woojin thought aloud, “But this place looks different this time.”

“That’s because I put the lens in your heart. Didn’t you notice you could see all sorts of things?” The girl asked. Her white robes were now replaced with a simple white dress and cardigan but her face was still hidden under a sheet of paper.

“The lens? So then that time you really-? And when I saw those clouds-?”

“Correct, correct! Those clouds, those voices! That time with your Aunt, with Minghan and your band leader, and just now with your classmates. You saw their hearts! You read their minds!”

Woojin frowned forming a deep crack between his eyebrows,

“N-no way! Wait a bit, I need time to… process this.”

Woojin felt tired. Why was this happening to him again?

Lotti began to leisurely wander around, fingers interlinked behind her back. The water rippled distorting the pale suns reflection. She must have been thinking over what insane information she would drop on Woojin next.

A giant black cross appeared on her paper mask over where her mouth would have been.

“I know what you’re thinking. Remember, I own your heart. You’re confused beyond all reasoning. You want to know where you are, what happened to you and who I am, right? You want answers. Oh but who I am is not important so I wont tell you that.” She shot him a playful peace sign, “Although, it would be nice if you could remember. Well, you’ll figure it out eventually. For now, just think of me as “Lotti,” the “witch who cursed your heart” which is where we are by the way. Heart, soul, conscience, whatever you want to call it. This place is your heart and I granted your wish by making it like this, simple.”

Woojin reconfirmed just how much he didn’t like her. Her way of explaining things was unsatisfactory and condescending almost. Then again what did he expect, the girl had practically broken his back the last time they had met. Why should he expect her to be of any help?

“Alright. So, then why am I here? What happened to me just now?”

The ink on her mask blotted into big fat spiralling letters: _HAHAHAHAHA_ _HA_ but he didn’t need to read it to know she was laughing at him.

“You passed out in front of the whole class!” She bellowed, “You said something all cool and bold on stage then passed out!” The ink now read: _Idiot_. She was definitely mocking him.

Woojin felt whatever dignity he had shatter to the floor. Blushing furiously, he rambled on,

“A-A fever! Its probably because of a fever or something! It was bound to happen after I was caught in that storm-”

Suddenly he paused. The events of the stormy night came back to him like a bullet. Now was the perfect time to ask about it,

“Hey, about that night-”

“hmm? You want to know about that other place you saw, the one covered in snow?” She guessed correctly, “Haven’t I told you already? That place is your reality.”

Woojin shot her a murderous look like he had just been dragged through hell and back. If he could roll his eyes across the circumference of the world he would have.

“Okay, okay, sorry, sorry!” She waved a dismissive hand, not sounding apologetic at all, “I’ll explain it to you properly this time. That place is an alternate reality. No joke, I promise!”

 

Lotti went on to explain how there existed many alternate realities. Of course it all sounded crazy, like something out of a Sci-fi show, but for a moment Woojin tried to imagine what it was like. A bunch of different worlds that were different by either only a strand of hair or a whole species. Oh, then again, maybe “species” didn’t exist in some worlds… Well whatever that place was, apparently it was slowly overlapping with the World he was currently sleeping in.

“Actually, it’s not uncommon for worlds to cross over once in a while but when they do things get messy. People start seeing things they normally wouldn’t… or go wandering into places they shouldn’t.”

 

***

 

Woojin woke up in a cold sweat, Lotti’s words swirling around in his head. That night when the lightening struck, two worlds had overlapped. At that exact moment Woojin was shown another world. The lens had shown it to him. The lightning had been the gateway and the lens was his bridge. Although he had no idea how it had happened, if he had been awake and hadn’t been knocked out by the lightning, he could have physically crossed into another world.

 

It was dark in the room. As Lotti had said, Woojin was in his bed, a damp towel placed on his forehead. Of course, it was only a matter of time before he came down with something from being up North.

The curtains were drawn but judging from the streams of light breaking through the cracks, it was still daytime. Woojin double checked the time on his phone. The brightness of his screen hurt his eyes.

“Woojin?”

He froze. Someone had been in the room with him the whole time. Not wanting to move his heavy head, Woojin didn’t bother looking over his bed rails to see who it was. Luckily enough he didn’t have to. Woojin felt said person climbing up the ladder and onto the foot of his bed.

Minghan was hovering, red faced on his hands and knees, like he had just completed a life changing marathon. Woojin stared down at him from the other end of the bed as the boy slowly crawled his way towards him. His eyebrows were furrowed and nostrils flared. His fuming face was almost the same colour as his bloodshot eyes.

“I know you’ve always had a weak immune system but this is just ridiculous. Take better care of yourself! Why are you always passing out around me? I’m always the one who has to carry you back. You’re not light you know.” He grumbled in a quiet low voice.

Woojin shuffled sideways to give him enough space to sit beside him. Moving only rattled his brain a little. The now warm towel slipped from his forehead. With a dopey smile on his face he took Minghans hand,

“It’s because you’re too handsome!”

He suddenly yanked the boy down onto the pillow next to him. There was a flurry of blankets and before Minghan knew it he was tightly wrapped up in Woojins grasp.

“I keep passing out around you because you’re too handsome!” Woojin repeated into Minghans chest. His hands held onto the back of Minghans firm shoulders.

“Hey, it’s too hot. Let go.”

“No.”

“That fever must have really be gotten to you. I’ll go get a fresh towel.”

“No.”

Woojin squeezed the boys diaphragm tighter. Even though he was burning up he didn’t want to let go. He didn’t care if he spread his fever to the other or passed out from the heat or stunk of sweat.

“Hey, I don’t want things to get weird between us so I’ll tell you everything. I want to tell you everything so will you listen for a bit?” Woojin asked between shallow breaths.

Minghan finally put his hand on the others head. He gently ran his cold fingers through Woojins slightly damp hair. The heat of his scalp spread through the boys fingertips.

“Sure, but not right now. Tell me when you’re feeling better. For now, lets just sleep. I’m tired too.”

“Okay.”

 

Woojin slept so soundly, despite the heat and the aches. He must have needed the rest, he was knocked out like a log. A few days passed and his fever had seemed to have settled. The weekend quickly came around and true to his word, Woojin told Minghan everything.

They scrubbed their tiny bathroom in pink rubber gloves and already soaked shorts. While cleaning, Woojin explained the things he could see. He told Minghan about Lotti and repeated what she had told him. He didn’t expect anyone to believe him but if it was Minghan, he was sure the boy would.

Woojin mentioned what he thought had happened to Four-eyes. She must have somehow been taken to _that_ place, the other world covered in snow. It was a stretch but his theory made sense. She had had the lens at the time she vanished. With it she could have easily stumbled there or been dragged in somehow. Woojin had an over imaginative mind so it might not have actually turned out that badly but during that time she had been really scared. She had even left a shoe behind. He had every right to fear the worst.

After hearing his story, Minghan wiped his brow with the back of his wrist. Washing the bathroom floor tiles strained your back like a bitch. He stretched his back standing up under the shower and let out a sigh.

“My back, I’ve gotten old, Woojin.” he grumbled.

“Haha you okay grandpa? Need my help?” Woojin pulled back the thin papery shower curtain.

“If you’re old then what does that make me…” He trailed off as he stared directly at a tanned chin suddenly right in front of his face. The two weren’t even inches apart. Woojin slowly looked up. Minghan stared down right back at him. Drip. The tap leaked.

The boys leapt back. There was a clatter of cleaning supplies as Minghan slipped and landed on his butt. He burst out into laughter, yelling incomprehensible nonsense to cover up his embarrassment. A big grin was plastered on his flustered face. All Woojin could do was watch as he tried to calm down his racing heart. An uneasy feeling was creeping up on him.

Woojin offered his outstretched hand to the boy, a troubled look on his red face. Minghan stayed put on the wet tiles for a moment. Drip. The sound echoed off cracked white walls. Finally, he reached for the hand. Then without warning the boy flung a handful of foam right at Woojins face.

Woojin shrieked,

“Mother fucker!”

He attacked back with a wet glove. Minghan dived for the shower curtain but he was too late. As if in slow motion, all wide eyes were on the wave of bucket water hurdling towards him. Splattering over him like a brick wall, Minghan just sat perfectly still, dripping from head to toe. His hair draped over his face like a wet cloth. Woojin also stood unmoved holding the now empty bucket, mid throw in the air.

Their eyes met and they shared a look. Woojin turned around and threw his glove into the squeaky clean sink.

“About that night when we were drunk. I remember everything.” he said.

Drip, drip. Woojin watched as the tap leaked. The sound of water gurgling down the drain filled the silence. In the mirror he saw Minghan get up and rub his hands dry with his t-shirt.

“So we’re doing this now? Okay, good. It's about time. I-”

“Minghan, you like me, don't you?”

There was no mistaking it. Woojin knew without a single doubt. 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao poor Minghan. :b


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! how's everyone been? Good hopefully!
> 
> Okay here's a recap of whats happened so far since its been a while:  
> Chapt 1: A look into Woojins past and the uncomfortable questions at their albums showcase. 
> 
> Chapt 2: Woojin and Minghan go out for ramen where Woojin finds the lens. He tries it out at dance practice.
> 
> Chapt 3: Woojin sees what the lens can do as he re-watches the things he's recorded i.e clouds and voices. The band are taken to a restaurant to celebrate their albums launch where he and four-eyes talk.
> 
> Chapt 4: Wakes up next morning and remembers what he and Minghan did that night (( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ). Minghan leaves dorms for home. Woojin discovers the voices are other peoples thoughts. No one knows where four-eyes it.
> 
> Chapt 5: Seunghyun has also gone back home but finds trouble and is warned not to cross the line. Woojin and Minghan decide to visit Woojins Aunt and Uncle. They meet at the tram station and take a long ride North to JI LIN.
> 
> Chapt 6: Younghee and Chris go to Four-eyes apartment to check on her but finds she hasn't returned and that she has a son. WJ and MH have breakfast with WJ's Aunt. WJ runs away due to reasons but Minghan finds him again. They wait under a shrine for the rain to stop. WJ is hit by lightning
> 
> Chapt 7: Woojin meets Lotti while he is knocked out. she offers to let him have the lens's abilities and shows him another world. WJ wakes up on MH's back as he's carried back home. WJ's sees his Aunts real feelings and resolves his viewpoint on her. WJ and MG go back to the dorms to find Seunghyun smoking. Four-eyes is officially missing.
> 
> Chapt 8: Week after four-eyes is missing Woojin has a fever and passes out while singing with Younghee and Minghan in class. WJ sees Lotti again who explains things i.e alternate worlds??! WJ tells MH while they are cleaning the bathroom. They address their relationship kinda i.e "You like me don't you?".
> 
> I did change the end of the last chapter a little for no particular reason. Anyways have fun with this one ~~  
> ಥ‿ಥ

Chapt 9

 

Pale sunlight flowed into the tiny white tiled bathroom from the smudged window. Specs of dust floated between them. Woojin wasted no breath in saying what he wanted like a reckless giant trampling on innocent villagers. He had left chaos in his wake.

“Minghan, you like me, don’t you?”

The boy seemed to be unable to understand what he had just been accused of. Staring up blankly, his face quickly drained of colour and his shoulders locked tense and rigid like a robot. Finally Minghan cracked a smile,

“What are you talking about? One night of making out and suddenly I’m in love with you? No way. Stop messing around. That time was just us being horny and drunk, right? It’s not that deep man.” He waved a dismissive hand and hastily made his way towards the door. Opaque smoke the colour of ash crept all over his body swallowing him up. It was like a storm was brewing in his mind. His eyes avoided Woojin at all costs. Suddenly an arm reached out and snatched his wrist.

Woojin looked down at his grasp on the other. His own actions were a surprise to himself. He just wanted to see what kind of expression Minghan was making. When he saw it Woojin found he was unable to say anything straight away. He hadn’t expected things to turn out this way. Not in his right mind, he rambled,

“Don’t lie. I’m not wrong, you like me. I can see-”

“SHUT UP!”

Woojin flinched. Minghans thunderous voice crashed through the quiet and echoed off the walls.

“Just drop it okay?” He sounded like he was being strangled and stabbed at the same time, “You’re wrong. Don’t go making stuff up just because you think you can read minds. And seriously, stay out of mine.” He pulled away from Woojins grasp and swiftly strode out.

Drip. Drip. Once again, the leaking tap was the only sound that could be heard echoing in the tiny bathroom. Woojin was left alone.

“You say that but then your actions say differently. Just what are you trying to pull right now?”

His words were deathly cold as he muttered to himself. Woojin wore no expression on his calm face. His arms hung by his sides, limp.

Symbols crashed in his ear drums again. He could feel swirling rage building up in his gut. Embarrassment ate away at his core.

Minghans words meant nothing to him any more. Like sand in the wind they scattered away, void of any integrity. Woojin wanted to scream. Minghan was only human. Obviously he told lies like everyone else, but why was it so difficult to accept? Woojin had wanted to believe in everything Minghan said, even when he played difficult and awkward things off as a joke but he couldn’t do it this time.

“Ass hole.”

 

That night the humid heat had reached a new high. Woojin tossed and turned in his suffocating web of a duvet. Two weeks had passed since Four-eyes’s disappearance. He flung everything off at one last final attempt to cool down. Everything other than his underwear was thrown to the wind, including his patients.

Try as he may this did not help the restless boy. Sleep still eluded him. He could feel a thin layer of sweat coating his bare skin. The air-con less room was slowly cooking him alive to the hum of their useless electric fan. It was mocking him like Lotti probably was. He really didn’t want to see her again. 

Woojin had had enough. The listless boy heaved himself upright in one clumsy swing and descended the wooden ladder. Maybe washing his face would help, he thought as he dragged himself barefoot along the corridor.

It was then Woojin thought he heard a noise. He paused mid step. There it was again, the sound of footsteps scuffling on wooden floor boards. Then, a dull thud shook through the walls, as if someone had dropped heavy furniture. It came from somewhere behind the door Woojin was stood frozen before. He stared at it trying to picture its inside.

The room he was in front of was known as "The shed", a storage room the size of a small shed. The boys kept their unused shoes, the vacuum cleaner, and other spare junk in it. The shed was the perfect place for privacy in a shared dorm with no privacy.

Woojin pressed his ear to the door until he felt the tiny hairs on his skin only just graze it. Listening carefully he could hear strained whispers.

"You’ve gone too far now." came a low growl, "Are you happy? Did punching me satisfy you?"

There was no doubt about it, it was Seunghyun's deep voice. The boy sounded irritated and out of breath. Suddenly another voice hissed,

"Shut the fuck up. Get off me. This is all on you. That punch, you deserved it."

 _H_ _oly shit_ , Woojin thought, it was Jiyoon. He internally gasped as his brain quickly scrambled to process the information. This was bad. It sounded bad. It sounded like they were fighting. Woojin didn't know what to do. He knew the smart option would be to leave, go back to bed, but obviously the dumb fuck didn't. He wanted to know what they were talking about.

"Jiyoon, I did it for the group. You were the one who told me to always put the group first. That’s exactly what I did so-"

Bang! Woojin leapt out of his skin as he heard something slammed against the door. He felt his stomach churn. Quickly, he clutched his mouth. Sweaty hands held in shallow, mortified breaths. He boldly leaned back in to listened.

"Letting _them_ do what they want and smoking again isn't doing anything for this group. Grow the fuck up and take some responsibility Seunghyun."

Jiyoons voice was surprisingly close to Woojins ear, it vibrated through the other side of the door. Woojin could tell he was probably pinned up against it. They were definitely fighting. Things were worse than he had dared to imagine. Jiyoon went on,

"You're just a coward letting them walk all over you. They're screwing us over. I shouldn’t even have to say it. Did you even read the terms they gave us before signing that contract? Fuck, Seunghyun!"

"Calm down! Everyone isn't always out to get you. When are you going to realise that? I did what was best for us and for Mei! There's a system, there are rules we have to follow. The Administration were going to get involved sooner or later. They’re the ones who run the police, they’re the ones who can find Four-eyes and bring her back. Their terms are nothing if it means we can get her back. Without her this band will fall apart. No matter how you look at it I did the right thing."

"Oh really?! Then where is she? It’s already been two weeks! Didn’t I tell you this would happen? They hate us remember? We’re Nuke kids and Mei’s our ally. They’re not gonna do a damn thing about her. Actually I wouldn’t be surprised if they were the ones who had taken her in the first place. She always went around preaching risky shit about the Administration."

When Seunghyun spoke again something had changed in his voice. He growled,

"What the actual fuck are you saying? How selfish can you be? Nuke kids? Stop playing the victim-card all the fucking time, this isn’t about you! Four-eyes has a kid! For his sake we need their help!" His harsh words left a bitter taste in the air.

There was a long silence. All Woojin could hear was the rapid thumping of his own heartbeat. He forced down a gulp. Things were looking bad. Just as he was about to knock on the door and check whether they were still alive, he detected signs of life from the other side. He picked up hushed mumblings. The voice was low and even quieter than before. He could barely make sense of it.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean that." It was Seunghyun. He sounded like an injured dog whining to its owner,

"It’s just that things are unravelling right now. Everything’s going to shit without Four-eyes around. Our Album has stirred up too much attention and no one’s here to deal with it. Just the other day, when I was back home, I got jumped by some gang members and-"

Suddenly Woojin thought he heard laughing. He did. Soft sniggering slowly bubbled over into a wicked cackle. It was Jiyoon,

"Me, playing the victim? Since when did I make this about me? This is all for the group. We’re all Nuke kids here, right, or did you forget?" The boy was definitely laughing, "The only one playing victim here is you Seunghyun. You got jumped by a few of your dads loyal supporters and now you’re scared? So that’s how it is, you’re just gonna run away? You’re gonna let rich politician daddy take care of things for you? Listen here, I’m telling you right now, Four-eyes had a better chance being found by us but thanks to the deal you made, she’s as good as gone. We can’t even go looking for her because of their rules. They’ve taken over everything. You of all people should’ve known this would happen if you involved them. Of course there's a system, there’s always been a system, and it's rigged against us. This era and our generation, _y_ _ou_ of all people know the shit they put us through just to be on par with the rest. We’ve had to dance like monkeys while they look down on us. They’ve kept us down here in the shit by giving us all these hoops to jump though. We're not human to them, we’re the Nuke generation. We’re the “infected orphans” or “cockroaches who survived”. So do you really think for a second they’d do this for us? Fat fucking chance. No one would rescue a rabid dog. Now get off, I’m going back to bed."

The words spat out by Jiyoon permanently stained Woojins thoughts. It made him overflow with unsettling anxiety. He was right, no one else could or would bring her back but them. He was amazed at how perfectly Jiyoon was able to put it into words. As expected of their producer. It was a reminder of the daily difficulties of their time. Their generations mundane yet monumental struggles.

Woojin suddenly remembered the cold glares he got as a child while his mother forcefully dragged them through the cold icy street. Her painfully tight grip on his wrist and defiant eyes, protecting him from the whispering crowd

“She had him anyway?”

“Of course! Her husband died for that.”

“But her timing... Having a child at the end of a War? There isn’t even enough rations for the veterans. All she’s doing is bringing another burden into this world.”

“On top of that he’s a Nuke baby, who knows what’s wrong with him? Developing in the womb while radiation is at an all time high, he’s probably not going to last long. No question about it.”

Woojin decided then and there that he would bring Mei back himself even if it meant going to that other world. When society turns its back on you what else can you do?

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he heard a loud click cut through the dark. The door handle moved down. Woojins heart dropped and before he was even aware of it, his feet were racing him back to bed. Holding his breath, he scrambled across the slippery floor boards and glided into bed.

Head ploughed into pillow, Woojin didn't allow himself to breath until he heard the door shut. Seunghyun had returned to their room. The boy was heaving and huffing in frustration. It must have been tough being the leader of such an angry sassy child. Woojin had nothing but sympathy for him. He heard Seunghyun remove his t-shirt over his head and felt the bunk rock beneath him.

It was frustrating being right there and yet unable to support him but Woojin figured that they were grown-ass men who could work things out by themselves. Surely they didn't need someone to intervene, right? Deciding that it was okay to let them hash things out man to man, he closed his eyes and went to sleep. Sleep descended onto Woojin like a truck. So quickly that the unconscious boy didn't notice Seunghyun get up again.

 

Even though Seunghyun was the leader it was clear he had no authority over a certain member and everyone knew it. The complicated dynamics of his and Jiyoons hierarchical position was most likely one of the reasons for their now estranged relationship. Woojin couldn’t remember the last time he had seen them hanging out together.

Although one was the leader and the eldest, the other had creative control over music production. It was a small detail which often toppled the delicate balance in authority. In fact Jiyoon was a special case in the majority of their proceedings. Despite being one of the younger members he was a pro. The boy was a straight up natural born genius. This granted him the authority to instruct and even scold the others if he needed to. What's more it gave him the right to overrule Seunghyun anytime, any place. Who could remain friends when faced with that?

 

***

 

Woojin sent a message from his phone. It didn’t take long to get replies. Snap. He clicked another photo of the sky. A chilly breeze stirred the nearby leaves as he stood on a busy overpass. Wait, that wasn’t right. Why did it feel cold? Looking through the lens he could feel something was off. Far above him sailed four winged crows, floating through washed out grey skies. Their macabre cries cut through the rumble of cars roaring beside him.

Woojin found himself thinking about the last time he had properly looked up at the sky or more specifically, the last time he had looked for the Moon. It was something he did a lot as a child. Spotting the moon back then with those large impressionable eyes had always given him a sense of wonder and comfort so he thought now, while the sun was still shy, he could find it again. Sadly he quickly came to realise that given his current situation, he had no time to be Moon spotting. He had a certain Manager to be finding.

It was warm that morning but not the usual sort of heat he had expected. Today the temperature reminded him of a sunny winters day. The wind was cold and bone dry. Not a trace of moisture was in the air. Another cool breeze blew threw his hair. Woojin licked his chapped lips. His tongue felt rough like a cats.

Suddenly something white and fluffy caughthis eye. He focused his lens up at the clouds. The camera bobbed up and down searching for something. Slowly he spotted them, one by one. As if the heavens had opened up, a flurry of feathery white snow showered down.

Woojin removed his camera from his eyes. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Unable to blink he gawked at the site. Wide eyes stung. The boy swallowed slowly. His neck craned upwards. After a moments hesitation he fumbled for his phone.

 _‘Are you seeing this!?_ _’_

 _‘_ _ITS FRIKIN SNOWING!?!?’_

 _‘Sorry_ _nevermind_ _’_

Woojin squeezed his phone, staring at the one sided conversation before shutting it off. In his excitement he had forgotten that there was no point in messaging Minghan. Days had already gone by without so much as a “hi” between them. Gritting his teeth, he let out a heavy sigh. After he had senthis messages he returned to his camera. Blinking through the lens, he began recording the miracle.

“Day 6, nearly 5:00am and it’s snowing! It’s frikin snowing!? For the first time in 60years summers finally ended!” He narrated with unsteady breaths and racing pulse, “A-anyway I’m here at the Red Bridgenearthe restaurant that Four- Mei- that Mei was last seen at. It’s been a few hours but neither Seunghyun or I have found anything. Chris and Younghee seem to have wondered off on their own again. I haven’t heard anything good from them ei...ther...”

Woojin gradually stopped talking, like the final pumps of a dying heart. He lowered his camera once again. Realisation had finally caught up to him. Woojin could see his breaths directly in front of him. White puffy wisps of clouds emerged from his mouth. A shiver ran down his spine. The temperature had plummeted.

Glancing around Woojin saw he was surrounded by swirls of dancing snow. He spun, left and right. It rained down harder. Sheets of white flashed across his view. The snow began closing in. He couldn’t see past them. As if they absorbed sound, all he could hear was whistling winds. The boy, stood alone on the edge of a busy highway over looking the Anko river, vanished into a snowy blizzard.

 

***

 

Minghan woke that morning to a silently flashing phone. Unlocking its screen he saw that his alarm hadn’t gone off yet. 7am. The boy scratched his wild bed head vigorously, annoyed at himself for being awake before it was absolutely necessary. He opened up his notifications.

 _5 unread messages from Woojin?_ He frowned in the dark, closed off room. The sofa bed squeaked as he sat up.

 _‘Are you seeing this!?_ _’_

 _‘_ _ITS FRIKIN SNOWING!?!?’_

 _‘Sorry_ _nevermind_ _’_

 _‘_ _Earth to Minghan!_ _Are you receiving this? Message me as soon as you get this._ _’_

 _‘_ _Yoo hoo!_ _I’m not on earth any more!!_ _I crossed the bridge_ _into another world_ _._ _There’s nothing but snow here so i_ _dk where I am_ _exactly but i’m going to look for Four-eyes_ _._ _I think she’s definitely here somewhere._ _I’ll be back_ _in a few days_ _._ _Sign my name on the attendance sheet_ _for all our lectures_ _please!_ _I’ll buy you meat bun if you do_ _! Thanks!!_ _’_

Minghan squinted harder at the tiny letters. In a thick groggy voice he croaked,

“What. The. fuck?”


End file.
